Some diesel fuel that spilled at Atrium Health's Mercy Hospital has reached a creek in Charlotte's Elizabeth neighborhood, and the city says to avoid contact with the creek.
The spill was reported Sunday, Nov. 8, at the hospital on Vail Avenue. The city estimates about 2,000 gallons of diesel came out of a storage tank, according to a release Monday. Some of it entered the storm drains and reached the creek, which flows into Briar Creek downstream. The city calls those volume estimates preliminary and under investigation, and says the amount spilled cannot be confirmed until cleanup is finished.
Pet owners should also keep animals out of the creek until the visible sheen and petroleum smell are gone and government agencies say conditions are back to normal.
Cleanup was underway Monday. Local agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are responding, and the role of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Storm Water Services is to make sure the work is completed and compliance standards are met.
The release gives no cause for the spill, no figure for how much fuel reached the creek and no word on who will pay for the cleanup. It points questions to Mecklenburg County Public Information Officer Tammy Thompson.