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SALT LAKE CITY — After receiving final test results Wednesday morning, officials at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality now say the oily sheen coating Mill Creek this week is not vegetable oil, as once believed, but motor oil.
The substance was first reported Friday morning near 3300 South and 500 East. Preliminary sample tests showed the oil was not a petroleum product, leading DEQ officials to proclaim it as vegetable oil Tuesday. However, more in-depth testing revealed the substance to be diluted motor oil.
Health department officials stressed the oil’s low concentration, saying it poses no threat to public or environmental health.
“It’s such a small amount that we don’t anticipate there’s an issue,” said Ron Lund, enforcement coordinator for the Salt Lake County Health Department. “The amount is similar to what we see after a rainstorm.”
The oil has been seeping into the creek from a storm drain near 3300 South and 700 East. Officials have been monitoring the area all week. Lund said the pollution appears to be slowing.
It's such a small amount that we don't anticipate there's an issue. The amount is similar to what we see after a rainstorm.
–Ron Lund, Salt Lake County Health Department enforcement coordinator
Until Wednesday, officials had been searching for the source of a vegetable oil leak or an illegal dump. Now, Lund said, the explanation looks a bit more mundane.
“It could be residual oil that was left in the storm drain system over time,” he said. “As we drive our cars and cars are parked, they leak oil at times. That oil then collects in storm drains.”
Lund said water quality officials will continue to monitor the storm drain system in their day-to-day work, keeping an eye out for possible leak sources.
Anyone who witnesses unusual or suspicious activity near a storm drain is asked to call the Salt Lake County Health Department hotline at 385-468-8888.
Allison Oligschlaeger is currently studying English and Arabic at the University of Utah while completing an internship with the Deseret News. Contact her at aoligschlaeger@deseretnews.com.
