SUNNYSIDE — The state Ecology Department says it could take weeks to clean up as much as 1,500 gallons of used motor oil that spilled into the Yakima River at Sunnyside.
The oil leaked Sunday from a tank at a former feedlot and traveled through 10 miles of irrigation canals and 14 miles of a meandering stretch of the river.
The Yakima Herald-Republic reports the area includes the Sunnyside Wildlife Refuge.
Ecology Department spokeswoman Joye Redfield-Wilder says it’s the worst oil spill in the Lower Yakima Valley in 17 years.
A cleanup contractor is using absorbent pads, protective booms and vacuum pumps.
