FORKS — Workers expect to finish today cleaning up a diesel fuel spill along U.S. Highway 101 on land owned by the Hoh tribe, said the tribe’s executive director.
The state Department of Ecology has estimated that up to 4,600 gallons of fuel spilled from a Pettit Oil tanker truck that overturned at 8:24 a.m. Wednesday about 25 miles south of Forks.
The driver wasn’t injured.
Hoh acting Executive Director Bob Smith said Saturday that about 90 percent of the spill was cleaned up, and the last fuel along the highway is expected to be removed today.
Traffic has been alternating through the southbound lane during the cleanup.
Nearby wetland
An unknown amount of the fuel made its way into a nearby wetland.
Smith said the water appears to be clean, but samples will be taken during the next few days by Cowlitz Clean Sweep, which was hired by Pettit and Ecology.
The wetlands drain into Chalaat Creek, which feeds into the tribe’s hatchery.
Smith said he is not concerned that the hatchery will be affected.
“The fisheries aren’t in danger; the hatchery is not in danger,” he said, adding that the hatchery has a “carbon filter.”
The northbound truck drove into a ditch, its trailer overturning and leaking some of its 5,600 gallons of diesel fuel.
No alcohol or drugs were involved in the wreck, the State Patrol said. Road conditions were also not a factor. Snow fell later in the day.
Spill responders from Ecology, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hoh tribe excavated contaminated soil, Ecology said. Booms and absorbent pads were deployed Wednesday.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
