City crews discover large fuel spill in Salt Lake neighborhood


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SALT LAKE CITY — Crews continued Saturday to clean up a spill of about 100 barrels of diesel fuel that leaked out of a Tesoro pipeline in the Rose Park area.

Salt Lake City crews repairing a water line on the east end of Rosewood Park, 1400 N. 1200 West, noticed the leak on Friday. The line, which runs on the edge of the park to the nearby Tesoro refinery and a remote tank farm, had already lost an estimated 4,200 gallons of diesel fuel.

“It’s very concerning, depending on the size of the spill,” said Debra Gutierrez, a longtime resident the neighborhood. “As far as I know, they’ve never had a significant leak.”

Salt Lake City Councilman James Rogers took to Facebook to alert his community. On the Rose Park Community page, he posted: "The source of the problem was both a ruptured Tesoro diesel fuel transmission line and a city water main line that fed the park."

Rogers said the fuel and water created a pond that was contained in the park. The closest the pool got to a residential fence was about 60 feet, he said.

The councilman also alerted a nearby school so kids avoided the park on their way home.

In a statement Saturday, Tesoro spokeswoman Tina Barbee said the fuel had been isolated and contained and air testing had not detected vapors beyond the immediate area of the spill. Barbee said the company was working with local agencies and taking all necessary precautions to protect neighbors and the environment.

Rogers posted an update Saturday afternoon saying there had been significant progress on the cleanup effort. He said city crews monitored the situation, and both the water line and pipe leaks had been stopped.

Gutierrez and her neighbors are just glad it wasn't worse.

“I think everybody would be concerned about the effects on air quality and their capacity to clean it up,” Gutierrez said.

Tesoro crews will do additional testing and monitoring of the spill area, Barbee said. The company will also look at remediation plans once final analysis is done, she said.

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