Cement Spill in Oakland Hills Creek Worse Than Previously Thought
OAKLAND (KCBS) -- There's good news and bad in Oakland, where crews are still working to rid a creek of 12 truckloads of cement spilled by an East Bay Municipal Utility District contractor earlier this week.
The cleanup is progressing, but Thursday night workers discovered another section of the creek is also contaminated.
The spill dumped enough cement to build a sidewalk half a mile long (using a 4-foot width, and 4-inch depth).
Since early Thursday, crews have been chipping away at the hardened cellular cement on a section of Glen Echo Creek in Oakland where the spill was first discovered at about 9 a.m. The broken bits are sucked up into a large industrial vacuum truck and hauled off.
On Friday, crews descended on a new section of the creek near St. Theresa Church, previously thought to be in the clear. Last night a neighbor spotted a 150-foot grey mass in the water and called authorities. It was a disappointing find that showed how widespread the damage really is.
In light of the news, authorities took a second and third look at the creek on Friday.
Andrew Hughan with the State Fish and Wildlife Service said, "Looking back we could have done better and we'll do better next time. We'll start at the very top and try to look at every single inch of this half mile or so and make sure that we didn't miss anything like this."
The original spill occurred when East Bay MUD crews accidentally left a valve open on Wednesday while pouring the cellular cement through an old pipe they were taking out of service. It wasn't noticed until a neighbor reported seeing cement in the creek early Thursday.
For now, most of the big chunks in the half mile spill zone have been removed. It's the small bits and pieces that will require tedious work.
East Bay MUD General Manager Alex Coates says they're in it for the long haul, "Through a combination of East Bay MUD and our contractor we take responsibility" he said.
Hughan and other officials from the State Fish and Wildlife Service say they are confident that one day the creek will be restored to its natural beauty, but that could be weeks, months, even years away.
