An oil well and storage tank in Park County was damaged over the weekend by vandals who used the facility for target practice and tried to set it ablaze. The Park County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that deputies responded to reports of damage to an oil well and tank battery on a lease owned by the Bureau of Land Management near the rugged McCullough Peaks south of Powell and east of Cody. Sheriff Scott Steward said the vandals shot at several bulk propane tanks, an oil battery tank, and line heaters in an apparent attempt to set the facility on fire. The vandals also tried setting an adjoining building ablaze by dousing it with gasoline taken from an onsite generator. The well and adjoining facilities are owned by Westco. Investigators, including federal law enforcement officers with the BLM, estimated that damages likely will exceed $77,000. Steward said that around 40 barrels of oil also leaked from the tank but the spill was contained by a catch berm surrounding the facility. A 250-gallon propane tank had also been hit by gunfire and was venting gas.
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