Gas Pipeline Spill Cleanup Continues In Walnut Creek

WALNUT CREEK, CA — Remediation work continues near a pipeline that has been leaking gasoline into a flood channel that carries Walnut Creek (the city's namesake waterway) through town, the City of Walnut Creek says.

At least 40,000 gallons of gasoline is believed to have leaked into the channel from the Concord-to-San Jose pipeline operated by Kinder Morgan, a Houston-based company that operates oil and gas pipelines and terminals. As of Dec. 23, an estimated 14,574 gallons of leaked gasoline has been recovered, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

There is no ongoing health danger to the public connected to the leak or the remediation efforts, the city says.

The leak was first reported Dec. 2 by maintenance workers who saw and smelled gasoline in a drainage canal near Civic Park downtown. A pressure drop in the pipeline had been detected south of that point about 10 days earlier, prompting a shutdown of parts of the pipeline. Meanwhile, rainwater runoff is being channeled around the worksite.

Two state agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Spill Prevention and Response, as well as the City of Walnut Creek and the Contra Costa County Flood Control District, are monitoring the repair work and environmental remediation. It isn't known when the work will be finished.

Most of the remediation work is being done during the day, but the city says there also is some nighttime activity, with generators powering lights to aid the cleanup workers in overnight monitoring of the site.

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