By Khalida Sarwari
California Department of Fish and Game crews continued their effort today to clean up a 1,300-gallon fuel spill from a corporate building in San Jose over the weekend.
The diesel fuel leak was reported at about 5:15 p.m. Saturday, according to San Jose fire Capt. Barry Stallard. It came from a 100-gallon tank on top of a 10-story AT&T building.
Fuel was running down a rain runoff system and spilling over city streets, coinciding with the fifth annual Rock ‘N’ Roll San Jose half marathon. The event went on as planned.
Crews cleaned all street-level diesel fuel and contained the spill on Sunday.
The focus of the cleanup today was placing absorbent booms at the Guadalupe River to absorb residual material, Department of Fish and Game patrol Capt. Don Kelly said.
“We will keep (the booms) there until there is no more sheen in the water,” he said. “The good thing is that both diesel and gasoline when exposed to the elements do dissipate quite readily and volatilize into the air.”
He said the booms would have to be replaced every 12 hours until all contaminants are removed from the river.
Kelly said that crews today cleaned the storm drain system by using a high-pressure water hose to push the contaminants to one spot and then using a vacuum truck to power wash the storm drain.
On Tuesday, crews will focus on removing contaminated soil upstream. The cleanup should wrap up in the next few days, Kelly said.
The Department of Fish and Game is investigating the cause of the spill and its potential effect on wildlife, Kelly said.
Other agencies involved in the cleanup effort include the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the State Water Resources Control Board.
The leaking tank holds fuel that is meant to supply an emergency back-up generator that would keep AT&T’s 911 hub, which is inside the building, operating even in the event of a power outage, Stallard said.