Diesel spill causes mess in creek, wetland areas

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By ZACH P"LUHACEK / Lincoln Journal Star

Between 75 and 150 gallons of diesel fuel leaked from a semi truck Friday evening, flowing across a parking lot near 84th Street and Nebraska 2 and into a nearby storm sewer, Lincoln Fire Capt. Eric Jones said.

The driver of the semi was making an illegal turn in a small parking lot behind Menards, Jones said, when a fuel tank on the side of the truck struck a curb and started leaking.

Fire officials responding to the scene at about 6:20 p.m. found the truck parked outside the nearby Wal-Mart with what they thought was a small leak in an isolated area. After following a trail of fuel away from that area they changed their minds.

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Directly behind the Menards building was a puddle of diesel fuel about 150 by 20 feet, with some of the fuel flowing into the storm sewer, Jones said.

A hazardous materials team was able to stop the fuel from moving around, soaking the smaller spill up. Much of the fuel evaporated because of the heat.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department was handling cleanup just before 8 p.m., and was expected to be working into the early morning hours. A company from Omaha was called to assist, Jones said. The state Department of Environmental Quality was also involved.

“The hazardous materials are not moving around any more at this point,” Jones said. “It’s not an immediate fire hazard at this point. The biggest concern would be the environmental impact.”

Environmental health specialist Ron Eriksen, who was working on-call for the Health Department on Friday night, said it could take 14 to 16 hours to finish cleaning the creek and wetland areas near where the storm system empties out.

“Essentially, we’ve got a new parking lot that’s pretty much covered with diesel staining,” he said. About 750 feet of storm draining and 750 feet of creek and wetland were thought to be affected.

The truck’s driver, whose name was not available late Friday, was cited by Lincoln Police for leaving the scene of a property damage accident, as well as for breaking the Health Department’s nuisance and storm water codes, Eriksen said.

The state may file charges, as well.

“It’s fairly serious. Trying to clean up wetlands ... is very difficult compared to a free-flowing stream,” Eriksen said.

Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7395 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com.