Three men who work for an Evans convenience store were arrested Sunday after allegedly dumping diesel fuel into a drainage ditch and pipe 300 yards from the South Platte River.
Evans Fire Chief Warren Jones said the fire department responded quickly to the drain, located at 1100 42nd St., after passers-by reported at about 3:15 p.m. that employees of the Fast Break convenience store were dumping the fuel.
“They apparently thought they had water in their tanks” and were trying to get rid of it, said Jones. However, the tanks contained only diesel fuel that is sold to owners of diesel trucks and cars, said the fire chief.
Jones said that the fire department quickly stopped the pumping operation and was able to deploy booms that apparently stopped most, if not all, of the fuel headed for the South Platte.
He said there is no indication that wildlife or fish were affected by the dumping.
However, a major cleanup is currently underway of the drainage ditch and pipe by a firm hired by the convenience store, according to Jones.
Detective Rita Wolf of the Evans Fire Department said that as a result of the dumping, a criminal investigation was launched.
She said that three people were arrested, including store owner Jaswinder Singh, store manager Kuldip Nijjar and maintenance worker Reyes Mireles.
Wolf said the trio had rented a siphon-type pump with the specific intent of removing the fuel from a storage tank they believed was contaminated with rainwater.
The incident was evaluated by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, the Weld County Department of Health and a contractor from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The detective added that the company hired by the convenience store will excavate the dirt around the storm drain and properly dispose of the contaminated dirt and water.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
