Johns Hopkins promises to pay to clean massive diesel fuel spill in Baltimore harbor
Many of the large pools of diesel fuel, noticeable by its distinct red color from dye, have been removed from Baltimore's harbor two days after what was initially thought to be a 2,000-gallon spill.
It is a testament to the quick response after Johns Hopkins Hospital's emergency generators were overfilled, leaking into storm drains and funneling into the Harbor Wednesday.
"I was really worried when I woke up this morning about what I was going to find when kayaking around the harbor. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed that areas where there were impacts yesterday have since been cleaned up," said the Waterfront Partnership's Adam Lindquist.
He not only extensively observed conditions from the water on Friday but also was instrumental in the creation of the turtle habitat in the canal along Lancaster Street, where much of the fuel was collected.
It is one of the only stretches of natural shoreline left here.
"Wildlife have really made that a sanctuary to the point where we know there are hundreds of turtles living in that canal, as well as the ducks and the geese and the fish. We are at this moment less concerned about how that spill is going to affect the larger harbor and really starting to focus our attention on how we're going to restore and clean up the canal, which is the focused area of this spill," Lindquist told WJZ.
On Friday night, Kim Hoppe, Vice President of Public Relations at Johns Hopkins Medicine, updated the initial estimate of fuel overflow to approximately 5,000 gallons.
Fells Point safeguards
A WJZ drone captured protective barriers in Fells Point, placed there in case fuel runoff flows that way.
"With the rain coming through this weekend, I think that's a big question mark. How much fuel is still left in the stormwater pipes? Is it going to keep coming out of that one outfall, or could it spread to other outfalls? Right now, there has not been any spread to other outfalls, but we just don't know what's going to happen when it's raining, so we'll all be keeping an eye on that," Lindquist explained.
Fire Chief James Wallace promised, "Should the situation change, we're able to react to it very quickly."
Oil spill investigation
Officials say the investigation into the spill from Hopkins' generators will start once the cleanup has ended.
Johns Hopkins tells WJZ they are "working closely with federal, state, and local authorities, and we are focused first and foremost on the health and safety of the community and on environmental cleanup."
They also promised to pay for damages.
"This is our home, and we are fully committed to funding the cleanup and remediation efforts in the Inner Harbor, including any impacts to local wildlife. While we are concentrating on the cleanup effort, we are also closely reviewing the situation to understand what happened," the statement said.
