Cleanup crews were trying on Saturday to contain petroleum that leaked from a tanker truck that crashed and flipped upside down on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, spilling fuel into a tributary of a river that had recently been restored for salmon runs.
Preliminary estimates say about 3,000 gallons (11,356 liters) of mostly gasoline and some diesel spilled into Indian Creek, a fragile salmon habitat, after the truck crashed on Friday, according to a release from the state Department of Ecology.
U.S. 101, west of Port Angeles, was closed overnight but reopened Saturday morning, and the truck was pulled from the creek, the Department of Transportation said on its Facebook page. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash.
“The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe will conduct shoreline assessments today to monitor for environmental impacts,” ecology officials said. “The Department of Health is also collecting water samples for further analysis.”
A message sent to the tribe seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Officials monitoring air quality levels in the area said they were not at unsafe levels on Saturday, but encouraged people in the area to watch for symptoms like headaches or dizziness and seek medical attention if needed.
Gov. Bob Ferguson called the accident “devastating” in a statement released Friday.
“This spill is nothing short of heartbreaking for local tribes and other Washingtonians who rely on clean, healthy rivers and streams for their food and livelihoods,” Ferguson said, adding that he planned to monitor the situation and would visit the site in the next few days.
Transportation officials posted a photo on Facebook that showed the tanker truck upside down in the creek, while emergency vehicles surrounded the scene.
Two dams on the Elwha River, which flows out of Olympic National Park into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, were removed more than a decade ago after a long-fought battle by the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Removing the dams, which were constructed in the early 1900s, opened about 70 miles (113 kilometers) of habitat for salmon and steelhead.
Biologists have said it will take at least a generation for the river to recover, but within months of the dams’ removal, salmon already started recolonizing sections of the waterway long closed off to them.
The Elwha River is also the main potable water source for Port Angeles. The city announced Friday afternoon that it was temporarily shutting down its water treatment processing operations and asked residents and businesses to limit their use of water.
“The City’s reservoirs currently have sufficient water supply for the next 18 to 24 hours without interruption to normal service,” the city’s statement said.
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