Ecology, Cheney crews working to clean up diesel spill into Minnie Creek discovered last week

Crews working with the state Department of Ecology and the city of Cheney have removed 30,000 gallons of a mixture of water and diesel fuel from in and around Minnie Creek after a leak was discovered last week.

Contractors were in the area behind a Grocery Outlet store on First Street in Cheney on Tuesday afternoon, cleaning up contaminated soil and water that the Department of Ecology has linked to leaky tanks below a nearby Chevron station, said Ty Keltner, communications manager for the Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response program with Ecology. No tests so far have shown contamination of the diesel fuel, dyed red for use in off-road vehicles and heavy equipment, in drinking water, he added.

“We haven’t found impacts to anybody’s sewage systems, drinking water, nothing like that,” Keltner said Tuesday.

Local firefighters initially reported the contamination on July 19, Keltner said. Contractors worked through the weekend to clean out a culvert and excavate contaminated soil across the highway, to the east of the Chevron station. That work will continue until the area is determined to be free of contamination.

John Calcaterra, supervising manager for the station, said Wednesday they were “horrified” when they were alerted to the leak. The dyed diesel tank at the station carries about 2,000 gallons of fuel, he said, and the station is investigating whether overfills of the tank during deliveries in recent weeks may be responsible for the fuel spilling from the storm drain.

“We have found no visual leak,” Calcaterra said of the buried diesel tank. In total, the station can store about 18,000 gallons of all types of fuel in their tanks on-site, but typically carry less, he said. 

Mark Schuller, administrator for the city of Cheney, said public works crews and firefighters have been on the scene to assist contractors with the cleanup.

“They’ve been down there nonstop, trying to contain this thing,” Schuller said.

The Cheney City Council received an update on the cleanup during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening. Cheney Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said the owner of the station had been cooperative with cleanup efforts, selling discounted red dye diesel to empty the tank and working with the city and Department of Ecology on the cleanup. The state Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have all been contacted about the leak, and no concerns had been raised as of Tuesday.

The contamination had been occurring long enough to kill vegetation around the storm drain where the diesel was leaking , Jenkins said.

Minnie Creek runs southeast from Meadow Lake, just off Interstate 90 at Four Lakes, along state Route 904 through Cheney before turning north to Scribner and feeding Marshall Creek.

Keltner said Department of Ecology records did not show any reports of contamination at the Minnie Creek site before July 19. Ecology will typically bill the “responsible party” for repayment of costs associated with cleanup once it is completed, he said.

Dyed diesel is not taxed by the state of Washington, but users who take public roads must obtain permission from the Washington Department of Licensing.

Leaks have been discovered in other parts of the state in subterranean tanks, including a 1,200-gallon spill near Pullman into the Palouse River in April 2022.

Editor’s note: This story was updated Wednesday, July 26, to include comment from John Calcaterra, supervising manager at the Chevron station in Cheney.