JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Environmental workers have set up booms on Hogan's Creek, which runs south into downtown Jacksonville, trying to collect hundreds of gallons of jet fuel that spilled from an overturned tanker truck into the waterway on Tuesday.
You can still see an oil sheen covering large parts of the urban creek and smell a heavy toxic odor in the air days after a tanker truck overturned and ruptured in a crash on I-95 near the 8th Street exit.
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It spilled nearly 3,000 gallons of fuel on a rainy day.
Jacksonville resident Rufus Brown, who is a veteran, said he smelled the fuel spill the day after the accident.
"After getting over to the clinic over by Hogan’s Creek, my friend and I smelled the odor. After the appointment, I looked over from across the street, and I said, 'I wonder if that diesel got into the waterway,'" Brown said.
Brown, who is a fisherman, said he's concerned about the condition of Hogan's Creek. He said that on a scale of 1 to 10, the smell was so strong, he considered it a 10.
The Department of Environmental Protection said the contractor recovered about 2,000 gallons of fuel, of which it's estimated 1,500 gallons came from nearby soil areas and about 600 gallons were recovered from Hogan’s Creek.
The fuel release entered storm drains and surrounding ditches.
To contain the spill, booms were deployed and a vacuum truck and skimmers were dispatched.
All other remaining spilled amounts were recovered by the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and through cleanup efforts by the responsible party's contractor.