Vacuum trucks continue sucking up floating diesel fuel from the surface of Clear Creek near the Loveland Basin Ski Area today as authorities voiced concerns about ecological damage but not danger to human health.
A tanker moving too quickly through a hairpin turn on U.S. 6 tipped over Saturday morning, spilling 4,000 gallons of farm equipment-bound diesel into the waterway and prompting a temporary closure of the highway.
A private contractor has been brought in for the clean up with oversight from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado State Patrol.
The bill — expected to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars — will be paid by Gilco Transportation, the Rifle trucking company responsible for the spill, said CSP Sgt. Adrian Driscoll.
Crews may also use compounds of chlorine or ozone to dilute and neutralize any diesel that’s settled into the environment, said Driscoll, who supervises his CSP’s hazmat team.
“In situations involving hazardous material, they have to return it to the original environment,” Driscoll said. “This is going to get very, very expensive for the trucking company. We will get it cleaned up, but it will take a little bit of time.”
Downstream water treatment facilities have been notified of the spill and can purify water for public use. Likewise, recreational creek users have little to fear from the spill, Driscoll said.
“The only concern right now is fish and the ecosystem in the water,” Driscoll said.
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244 or jfender@denverpost.com.
