Santa Rosa Haz-Mat Team Responds To Possible Diesel Spill
SANTA ROSA (CBS SF) -- A Sonoma County hazardous materials team responded to a possible diesel spill near the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport north of Santa Rosa Friday morning.
An employee of the airport's fire department detected the smell of what appeared to be diesel around 9 a.m., Emergency Services Capt. Bob Borges said.
An employee of the Kaiser Air Santa Rosa Jet Center at the airport reportedly also detected a diesel small early in the morning, Borges said.
The Rincon Valley Fire Protection District responded and found a substantial amount of water with a sheen on top in a storm drain, Borges said.
Fuel absorbent booms were placed in the drain and 2,000 feet away at the north end of the airport to protect Airport Creek, Borges said.
The drain empties into Airport Creek, then into Windsor Creek and eventually into the Russian River, Borges said. The state Department of Fish and Game and the Windsor Fire Department also responded to the spill.
So far five boom lines have been laid down to keep the substance out of the river.
The source of the suspected diesel spill is unknown but there are many industrial businesses in the airport area, Borges said.
Samples have been taken to determine if the spill contains diesel, he said.
The hazardous materials team was still opening storm drain covers in the area Friday afternoon to find the source of the spill, Borges said.
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