Ecology, Cheney crews working to clean spill

SPOKANE — Crews working with the state Department of Ecology and the city of Cheney have removed 30,000 gallons of a mixture of water and diesel fuel from in and around Minnie Creek after a leak was discovered last week.

Contractors were in the area behind a Grocery Outlet store on First Street in Cheney on Tuesday afternoon, cleaning up contaminated soil and water that the Department of Ecology has linked to leaky tanks below a nearby Chevron station, said Ty Keltner, communications manager for the Spill Prevention, Preparedness and Response program with Ecology. No tests so far have shown contamination of the diesel fuel, dyed red for use in off-road vehicles and heavy equipment, in drinking water, he added.

“We haven’t found impacts to anybody’s sewage systems, drinking water, nothing like that,” Keltner said Tuesday.

Local firefighters initially reported the contamination on July 19, Keltner said. Contractors worked through the weekend to clean out a culvert and excavate contaminated soil across the highway, to the east of the Chevron station. That work will continue until the area is determined to be free of contamination.

A worker at the Chevron station on Tuesday referred questions to a supervisor, who was not on site. The station did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Mark Schuller, administrator for the city of Cheney, said public works crews and firefighters have been on the scene to assist contractors with the cleanup.

“They’ve been down there nonstop, trying to contain this thing,” Schuller said.

The Cheney City Council received an update on the cleanup during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening.