5,000-gallon diesel ‘release’ closes park in Sacramento’s Natomas Crossing area
About 5,000 gallons of diesel overflowed from a building generator in Sacramento’s North Natomas area, forcing the closure of a nearby park after some of the oil flowed via storm drain into the park’s retention pond, according to state emergency officials.
Crews are “overseeing the cleanup of a diesel release into the Tanzanite Community Park,” the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, part of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in a social media post shortly before 11 a.m.
According to the post, the source of the diesel spill is “stopped,” but the park remained closed to the public as clean-up efforts continued. It was not clear when the park would reopen.
Wildlife personnel located and captured at least five birds, including a Canada goose, that were taken to a care facility in Fairifield for rehabilitation, state officials said in an update Tuesday evening.
The incident appears to have started Monday at a nearby commercial building.
A hazardous material spill report was filed Monday morning to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. A 10,000-gallon tank for a generator at a building on East Commerce Way sustained a malfunction around 9 a.m. Monday, causing approximately 5,000 gallons of petroleum diesel to “release onto the concrete loading dock and then into a storm drain,” according to the report.
The address listed on the report for the spill incident is that of the Centene campus in North Natomas. The reporting party is shown as Hines Interests Limited Partnership, a Texas-based real estate firm.
The initial report said it was unknown where the storm drain leads to, but an update to the report posted Tuesday said the diesel fuel flowed into a retention pond. Tanzanite Community Park is less than 2 miles southeast of the involved building and includes a retention pond.
The report said crews have taken measures including use of absorbents and a vacuum truck to clean out the diesel.
The incident remains under investigation, according to the OES spill report.
This story was originally published November 15, 2022 at 3:40 PM.
