Diesel Spill in Freshwater
60-100 gallons of diesel fuel poured into Freshwater Creek Wednesday night after a fuel truck belonging to Steve Will’s Trucking Company overturned. Containment measures are currently underway and attempts are being made to remove the truck from the creek.
If you get drinking or domestic water from Freshwater Creek you may want to call Environmental Health 445-6215.
The Eureka Reporter says that “Freshwater residents may want to sniff their water prior to drinking and/or bathing in it, thanks to a local lumber company’s fuel tanker truck that somehow ended up in the middle of Freshwater Creek last night.“
Steve Will’s Trucking is a contractor with Pacific Lumber. The crash happened near Pacific Lumber Camp Road. Perhaps Pacific Lumber is the “local lumber company” referred to by the Eureka Reporter.
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The Humboldt Herald 
Heck, no need to sniff the water to see if it has diesel in it. Just light a match and hold it above the faucet when you turn on the water. Simple enough.
Funny how they didn’t print the name of the company.
Go play in your own back yard, Fred.
Thats terrible… Any word on what happened to the driver or what caused the truck to go off the road? Where did your number of gallons of diesel spilled come from?
I wish I was there right now to give a hand.
Well I guess I can credit them for covering the story at least.I didn’t see anything in the times-standard.I sure hope that the elementary school has some backup.
Did you see the TPZ story in today’s ER? They finally got around to stating that Washburn “had served” as counsel for PALCO.
It came from the Humboldt Fire District. The number could go up. We’ll see how it goes with removing the truck from the creek.
KHUM reports there is a sheen of oil on the water and that water quality monitoring equipment had to be removed from the creek, but that individuals from Humboldt Baykeeper will be taking water samples by hand.
The poor fish and critters that depend on the creek.
Thanks Heraldo, when I googled “freshwater creek diesel spill” this post was the only thing I found.
Any word if they’re going to pump out the contents of the truck into another one before they try to move it?
I wonder how far down the creek it has spread.
That’s a good question and seems like the smart thing to do, but I haven’t heard any details of how they’re going about removing the truck.
I understand the Fire Dept. and Steve Will’s Trucking is working on it. Haven’t heard if anyone else is taking part.
KHUM says the crews are “frustrated” and they need clean-up booms and people to help.
I am very sad to read this. For seven years I lived in Freshwater, and I absolutely loved it. I hope the clean up can be effective. However, I am not going to be surprised if this gets bad.
-boy
Any word on whether or not the driver is ok? Was there a driver? Was it vandalism?
Was the driver a disillusioned TPZ owner? You’re too much Rose.
Who logs this time of year. Sounds like indoor grow fuel to me. Prove me wrong.
You won’t have to wait long 12:07. In the mean time try holding your breath.
Fred, Diesel is not Gasoline. It will not ignite with a match. It needs to be in an aerosol. It will burn, if added to an already ignited source.
Kinda strange that they don’t have any type of Emergency Response Equipment/Plan to implement.
Any updates on how far downstream the diesel spread? Is there anything that regular people can do to help?
Why yes Jane there is. Blame it on Arkley.
Cool, 12:38. Maybe it would be even more helpful if you blamed Gallegos?
Who logs this time of year. Sounds like indoor grow fuel to me. Prove me wrong.
Shouldn’t be to hard. Did you even read the article?
1. Ever heard of “Winter Ops”? Pacific Lumber’s contracted crews log year round, even in the rain sometimes.
2. The truck went off a bridge on Pacific Lumber Camp road.
3. The ER said it was “a local lumber company’s fuel tanker truck”.
4. Steve Wills is a logging contractor not a fuel delivery service like Rex Bohns Renner petroleum.
Or blame pot growers like usual, take your pick.
Wow, you sure knowhow to ruin a good conspiracy theory.
There is a Renner guy out there. He talks about the “product” in the creek.
There’s oil below Freshwater Park so containment isn’t entirely successful.
The creek reeks of diesel.
We can expect to see a whole lot more wreckage such as this if the Arkley/Maxxam/Barnum developers get their way and turn Humboldt into Redding West. It’s time to turn them back, soundly, or all of our creeks and streams will permanently reek of diesel, the fish will go away forever, and our citizenry will be impoverished both economically and spiritually.
Way to take it to the divisive extreme.
OK, good point. I just wanted to contrast the visions for our home, and I’m pretty upset about what has happened to Freshwater Creek. First it gets really hammered by Maxxam’s over-the-top logging, now one of its contractors spills diesel. But you are right, we are to avoid the divisive extremes if we want to get anywhere on many of these issues. Thanks.
John Doe 86,
Rex Bohn doesn’t work for Renner Petroleum anymore. Why would you make a rash statement like that as if he were the owner?
The Times-Standard finally got something up on its Web site. Welcome to Breakingnewsville, Times-Standard. Better late than never I guess.
The T-S has several pictures up on their front page. Too bad they’re not bigger.
I dont think anyone has spilled more toxic chemicals, diesel or gasoline into our creeks and rivers than the local crack-heads who infest our rural areas. How many times have there been fuel spills from major pot grows, greater in frequency and size than this spill? I would like to see the same outrage expressed about the spills the local pot-heads, crack-heads, and even our new-found Drug-Cartel buddies from Mexico bless us with……
Report on KHUM:
Absorbent booms being laid down the creek.
Wind appears to blowing diesel up stream, as well as flowing down.
Don’t shower, drink it. If you have a well diesel likely will not contaminate. Diesel floats and much will reportedly evaporate.
Diesel oil, motor oil, 2 stroke oil. No used diesel. Estimates at 100 gallons spilled. Fuel has been pumped from the truck.
1:30 seems to have serious perception issues since it can’t differentiate between concern and outrage.
Any contamination of a body of water is cause for concern. If it was deliberate it would be cause for outrage.
More from KHUM:
Nasty sheen on surface near fish station at HSU fisheries biologist’s house. Extremely stinky with fumes.
Terry Roloffs, fisheries biologist, says it smells like a gas station at his house.
“It’s going to enter the food chain right away.”
Anyone that sticks their feet or nose in the creek is going to get it on them. It’s toxic. Sheen all over surface of the water. Smell getting stronger as day gets warmer.
Got a call at midnight (reverse 911). Greatfully Grown organic farm downstream greatly concerned.
FUCK!
Peace be with you.
It wasn’t that many years ago when PL mixxed diesel with their round-up so it would stick to the oak leafs better. Way more than 100 gallons in every waterway in Humboldt county.
love eternal
tad
Peace
the machine took my (ijust wrote sic with the little arrow things). It was there when I pushed send.?.?
love
So, was the driver hurt? TS says a bridge collapsed…
MAY have collapsed.
Surely if the driver was injured they would have mentioned his disposition, to the hospital, released home, etc.
Peace be with you
This is yet another example that waterways are too dangerous for society. Pipe the water at its source and safely divert it away from human populations. If that creek didn’t exist, we’d be talking about digging a hole and cleaning some dirt, that’s all.
love eternal
God
Guess you really screwed up, god. You should have given fish feet so they wouldn’t need water either.
Maybe they can start calling it bleechwater creek instead.
The only feasible solution for fish-as-food for an ever-expanding population is to grow fish in aquafarms. That’s not done in wild creeks. So, divert the dangerous water safely away from people and farm edible fish in tanks and let us all live in peace.
bleechwater creek? Diesel Creek would be more appropriate. Still very bad day for water safety.
-boy
It sounds like 3:11 would be happier living in a big bubble on the moon.
Blechwater Creek, short e, ch sounding like K.
Why Jane? Because I advocate for a clean environment for people, plants and animals?
Are you serious, 4:17? Putting rivers into pipes and all the fish into tanks? Not only does it sound like a sterile world, it would soon become one.
Has the drive been drug tested might also be worth asking.
The bridge did not collapse. The truck took out a side rail when it went off the side. The driver went to the hospital but was released from what I hear.
And the truck has been removed.
Hey, accidents happen. This was a bummer, but it too shall pass.
Rex Bohn doesn’t work for Renner Petroleum anymore. Why would you make a rash statement like that as if he were the owner?
Ok 1:19 pm, I stand corrected. I was misundereducated on that one.
Rose, have you found out if the driver was a vandal yet?
New photos:
http://times-standard.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=381773
Thanks for the link Mike.
And I see that you can get a coffee mug with a photo of the tipped over truck on it to commemorate the occasion.
Yes, thank you, Mike. The bridge looks pretty rickety.
The Eureka Reporter says that “Freshwater residents may want to sniff their water prior to drinking and/or bathing in it, thanks to a local lumber company’s fuel tanker truck that somehow ended up in the middle of Freshwater Creek last night.“
That’s what some people do with wine. Probably you should also let it whirl around in the glass a little bit to admire the body. Then you say something like “pungent, but not overbearing.”
All part of the experience.
Thanks Jane
more like BLECH!!-water creek.
The ER should get Tom Cookman out there to chug some of that water so that we will know it’s safe
What’s the big uproar for ? 100 gallons of diesel ?!
Unbelievable. You make is sound soooooo horrible. The dope growers in SoHum do this all the fucking time and there never seems to be any outrage. What a screwed up set of values.
What about when the diesel truck tipped over into China Creek a few years ago with a few thousand gallons of diesel spilling ? Of course that diesel was going to some dope grower so there is no outrage.
If it’s an accident it’s bad, but if it’s becasue of a dope grower it’s OK.
Any diesel spill is bad for the environment, whether it is a truck falling into a creek or diesel dumped in the woods, hcn.
What can we do as citizens to help?
What about when the diesel truck tipped over into China Creek a few years ago with a few thousand gallons of diesel spilling ? Of course that diesel was going to some dope grower so there is no outrage.
hcn you’re going to hell for writing things like that.
less than 40 gal. was spilt. Not good but not the end of the world,this creek or its aqua culture. When the tree setters were washing their nasty asses in the creek the danger was much worse. Who’s to blame? The county. Keep our roads open,our bridges in good repair and private property rights in tact.
It doesn’t seem like anyone knows how much was actually spilled. (spilt?)
Wow, going to hell because I don’t approve of or condone dope growers.
Is that kind of like that British teacher in the Sudan being executed for allowing her 7 year old students to name a teddy bear Mohamed?
When did that truck spill diesel in China creek? I don’t think this blog or my own existed then and I sure as hell didn’t hear about it at the time. If I had I would have spread the word.
Peace be with you.
Again I wish to make light of the fact that PL was dumping up to 50 thousand gallons of diesel fuel and herbicide a year. . http://www.civilliberties.org/ss00spray.html I was picked up hitch hiking a month or so ago by a person who claims to work for a company who still sprays diesel fuel and herbicide for PL They’ll blame the bridge. They’ll blame the pot smokers. They’ll even blame those caring about the environment. But in reality diesel in our waterways is busyness as usual.
love eternal
tad
ps you should change gods dude.
The T-S reports 50-100 gallons spilled into the creek. The ER says 100-200 gallons.
JD 86- it was in 2000 or 2001. It was in the news. The highway patrol went to it. I think it was a renner truck.
And just 2 or 3 years ago another diesel bigrig rolled over coming down the Alderpoint road at about 3:am? don’t know how much diesel was spilled but there was a bunch. The owner/operator (one everyone in Sohum knows) tried to clean up the mess before the cops got there, with the help of an interested party!!! But there you go, if it’s pot related nobody cares or makes a big deal about it.
Not true. People do care, but there are those who try to cover it up in order to hide their activities. If it happens in a remote area the cover-ups can be successful.
Every generator in Humboldt County isn’t for growing pot. Lots of rural dwellers have generators because when a power outage occurs, they are the last to be taken care of. In major power failures, even people living in town on the more isolated properties can wait for days to get their electricity back on. PG&E priorities are to get power back up for the majority and then deal with the less dense population sector.
Butbutbut Clinton got a blowjob!
Oh wait, isn’t this a Bush bashing thread? I just assumed it must be given the irrational rationalizations wherein it’s OK for PL to dump fuel as long as the dope growers are doing it too. Or something. Nevermind.
This is great entertainment. QUICK!! BLAME SOMEONE!!
Some of ya’ll need to go read the definition of sarcasm. It’ll be a bummer for a bit, but diesel both floats and decomposes fairly rapidly. Be glad it’s not some of that yummy bunker fuel.
Haven’t the people of Freshwater suffered enough from logging damage to the watershed and now this? Trucks like that shouldn’t even be allowed onthat road.
true Jane Doe but it’s teh one’s used for pot that goe non stop and drink in the diesel ………………… and you know it.