Agencies, company continue Oregon oil spill cleanup after fire

MEDFORD, Ore. — Oil cleanup continues after a gas station fire in Medford last week, state officials said.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said Tuesday that the agency and NEXGEN Logistics had collected and disposed of most of the recoverable oil in and around Bear Creek.

The agency says more than 20,000 gallons of petroleum products – primarily lube oil – were released during the blaze April 12 that spread from the fueling station to adjacent buildings.

EPA spokesman Bill Dunbar told the Mail Tribune the estimate of spilled oil increased to over 20,000 gallons after cleanup crews inspected above-ground tanks containing gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products and determined they were “down more.”

DEQ and NEXGEN don’t have an estimate of how much oil entered Bear Creek through storm water systems and how much the fire consumed. NEXGEN operates the Pacific Pride fuel depot in Medford that burned and is paying for incident response including wildlife rescue and recovery efforts, DEQ said.

Some oiled Canada geese and mallard ducks have been taken in by International Bird Rescue for care, DEQ said. The state Department of Fish & Wildlife urges people not to approach or pick up any oiled wildlife and to instead notify trained experts.

Occasional sheens along the creek likely will be seen over the next several weeks to months, officials said.