In between the Crescent City Cultural Center and the Hmong Point of Honor there is a culvert. For the past month there has been diesel fuel leaking from the culvert into Elk Creek. Rick Beal, a local who feeds the stray cats in the area noticed the smell of the diesel coming from the creek. He called up and down local agencies getting little answer. He did however contact the Coast Guard who ended up putting absorbent booms at the end of the Culvert to stem the flow of diesel until they could find the source. After coordinating with the County and the City, the agencies found and secured the source of the spill into Elk Creek. According to Andrew Cistner from the Humboldt Coast Guard Station, the source was a failed hose and it released approximately 13 gallons of diesel into the culvert, with potential pockets of further runoff expected. The Coast Guard has eyes on the situation daily, to move the booms back into position. The Coast Guard conducted an investigation into the source, and Andrew declined to speak to who is responsible for the failed hos, stating we would need to file a Freedom of Information Act request to gather that information.

Similarly to Rick’s experience, we were sent in a circle trying to uncover exactly what happened with the whole diesel incident over several days. From the City, to the County’s Environmental Health Department, then to the Coast Guard, no one seemed to have the full story, or care all too much about letting the public know what happened.

Perhaps the reason for this is that there is still runoff into Elk Creek, seemingly unabated by the present fix. Whether or not this is a large amount of  residual runoff or another source of diesel leakage remains to be seen. Major concerns for local wildlife are on my mind as otters, herons, and other species live in this creek and could be consuming this diesel. 

After several days of getting the runaround from local and federal agencies regarding a fuel leak into Elk Creek, I have received answers regarding its source, and how much was said to have leaked into the creek itself. Speaking with Sheriff Garrett Scott this morning, we have confirmed information from an anonymous source, that the source of the leak was a fuel tank at the Sheriff’s Office. During the recent storms, a fault occurred with the tank causing what the Coast Guard said was 13 gallons of spillage from the tank to the ocean. Sheriff Scott had limited information seeing as this is a County Maintenance matter, but was told that the problem was fixed and that any further runoff would be dealt with by their safety measures. He was told there was less than 10 gallons that spilled into the storm drain, which is contradictory to the Coast Guard’s mention of 13 gallons.

We currently have an FOIA filed with the US Coast Guard that is in process. We have also called the Maintenance Department Director Alan Winogradov and left a message. More on this story as it develops, for Redwood Voice Youth Media, I’m Sebastian Monroe.