Several gallons of diesel fuel washed off a lot containing farm
equipment into Llagas Creek during Wednesday’s rain.
Several gallons of diesel fuel washed off a lot containing farm equipment into Llagas Creek during Wednesday’s rain.
South County Fire and Calfire personnel responded to the report of a fuel spill about 5 p.m. An employee from the Santa Clara County road department first noticed the swath of fuel floating down the middle of the creek at Seymour Avenue in southeast Morgan Hill, according to South County fire captain Mike Mathiesen. The county road crew worker was cleaning a grate under the road through which the creek flows, to prevent the possibility of flooding.
Mathiesen described the spill as “a pretty good slick” of fuel. The fuel flowed through the middle of the creek in about a four-foot wide path.
Firefighters walked upstream along the creek to identify the source, which they found on a lot on the east side of Monterey Road owned by Uesugi Farms. The fuel was “red-dye diesel” which is commonly used in tractors and other farm equipment, according to Calfire Battalion Chief Darrell Wolf. It accidentally spilled from farm equipment on the property.
“The rain caused it to float on top of the water. We’re being assisted by the landowner, who is doing a great job mitigating the spill,” Wolf said. The property owner covered the ground where the spill originated with an absorbent, he said.
Firefighters did not know how much fuel spilled into the creek, but Wolf estimated it to be “maybe a 50-gallon spill.” He said the property owner did not know the diesel was leaking onto the ground until firefighters arrived.
Because Llagas Creek flows to the Pajaro River, local fire crews planned to notify the state Fish and Game Department, as well as the Coast Guard, Mathiesen said. They also called a hazardous materials team to help contain the toxic spill.
