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Agencies Map Extent of Diesel Spill in Preparation Of Removal Plan Responders began mapping soil contamination to craft a soil removal plan following a tanker truck diesel spill that occurred above Donner Lake on May 26. Responders expect to submit a soil removal plan to CalTrans later this week for an emergency permit to begin soil removal. "With the snow gone, we can gain access to all of the areas where the diesel could have flowed to assess and map clean up needs," said Hector Orozco, incident commander for the Department of Fish and Game (DFG). DFG and Nevada County Environmental Health (NCEH) have teams carefully surveying the hillside and creeks for diesel "stains" which are areas where the soil looks dark from the petroleum product. The majority of the 3,000 gallons of diesel went into the center divide where it saturated the soil, and will be excavated and replaced under the plan. But, some fuel flowed into a culvert and down the median toward Donner Lake. Initially, the diesel impacted two smaller streams that fed into Billy Mack Creek which flowed into Summit Creek. Most recent water samples at the mouth of Summit Creek and Donner Lake did not detect diesel, but testing will continue. Two of the booms on Summit Creek have been removed; however, crews will maintain a third boom higher up in Summit Creek as a precautionary measure. "While the public can move freely about on Donner Lake and near the mouth of Summit Creek, we would ask that they stay away from any deployed boom so it can continue to do its job - protecting Donner Lake," said Orozco. "It's our standard practice to conduct long term evaluation," said Carol Oz, DFG environmental scientist. "When we are done with the clean up, we will continue to evaluate the resources, testing the water and the soil. We will be here until the environment is restored." For the latest information on this spill visit https://calspillwatch.dfg.ca.gov/ |
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