Petroleum Incident in Eureka

A new hazardous materials incident involving petroleum has been reported to the California Office of Emergency Services.

According to a report published by the office, the incident took place at or near a road in Eureka at around 12:05 p.m. today.

About 10 gallons of a substance described as “hydraulic fluid” were released to the environment, according to the person who called in the report.

Here’s the description of the incident that was recorded by the Office of Emergency Services:

Reporting Party states a hydraulic line on sweeper truck ruptured. The driver did not notice the leak, and went about four blocks before they stopped. The leak impacted the road and did hit a couple storm drains, but they were dry. Reporting Party was able to get a vacuum into bottom of the storm drains. Oil pads were also used to complete the clean-up of the storm drains. Absorbents were put down on the entirety of the spill. The absorbents were then swept up after the allotted time needed to soak up the spill. The absorbents that were swept up, were disposed of properly. The leak was stopped on the sweeper truck. The spill has been completely cleaned-up.

This was the 13th hazardous materials incident recorded by the Office of Emergency Services in the Eureka area this year and the 34th petroleum spill in the county overall.