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SALT LAKE CITY — State water quality officials received preliminary results Tuesday on an oily sheen that appeared on the surface of Mill Creek last week, and the news is encouraging.
The oily substance was first spotted last Friday. It is seeping out of a storm drain near 3300 South and 700 East and straight into Mill Creek. Preliminary water samples taken by the Department of Environmental Quality show the substance is a vegetable oil and not a petroleum product, something officials said was good news.
The results are not yet final — the DEQ expects more conclusive information later this week.
There are no indications of any threat to public or environmental health, according to the Salt Lake County Health Department. Department officials have been monitoring the situation at the site for the past three days.
The area of the source has been isolated within a couple hundred yards, but health officials still don’t know exactly where it is coming from.
The first report of the substance came in around 7:30 a.m. Friday morning in the area of 500 East. Firefighters put booms in the water to contain the oil.
While the sheen continues to seep into the area where the storm drain meets the creek, it’s not spreading downstream.
The source could be an illegal dump, a leak of some sort percolating through the soil or a natural occurrence, health officials said. The DEQ should receive final test results Wednesday.
