Multiple government agencies responded to a fuel spill in the Indian River area on Friday (12-20-24).
Rachael Krajewski is an environmental program manager with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. She told KCAW that her department was notified of an out-of-use leaking heating oil tank on the Sitka Counseling campus shortly after 10 a.m. Friday. She says all day and throughout the weekend they communicated with the property owner, who hired a contractor to remove contaminated soil.
Some of the fuel leaking from the tank migrated onto national park property and into the river. Sitka National Historical Park Director Mary Miller told KCAW in an email that the park’s hazmat-trained staff promptly put out boom and sorbent pads that they keep on site to catch any fuel that was migrating after the fuel source was located.
“I think quick action and quick thinking kept an undesirable occurrence from developing into a worse situation,” Miller said.
The Sitka Fire Department also responded to the scene, along with the U.S. Coast Guard. Petty Officer John Hightower told KCAW that they surveyed the scene and found no signs of discharge in the ocean.
The DEC’s Krajewski said major progress was made over the weekend. She told KCAW that the agency will “have to go in and make sure the cleanup was adequate under [our] regulations.” She added that no more sheening has been seen in the river since Friday, and her department will continue to work with the property owner until cleanup is complete.
