CLEAR LAKE – Last Friday, Dec. 28, DNR investigated the site of a diesel fuel spill on the northeast side of Clear Lake.
An estimated 300 gallons of diesel fuel spilled Thursday night as a tanker filled underground storage tanks at the Pilot Travel Center south of U.S. Highway 18. The spilled fuel flowed over the parking lot.
Pilot staff and Clear Lake fire and police departments responded, damming up the parking lot to hold fuel in place. Later an environmental cleanup firm pumped at least 750 gallons of a fuel and rainwater mix from the parking lot, but an unknown amount reached Willow Creek.
The cleanup company and DNR did not see fuel in Willow Creek. However, it rained most of Thursday and the creek was out of its banks Friday, so most spilled fuel had moved downstream.
DNR will continue to monitor the situation and consider appropriate enforcement action.