Fuel Spill in Rock Springs Parking Lot Results in Investigation and Possible Contamination of Bitter Creek

Around 6:30 a.m. on April 6th the Rock Springs Police Department and Rock Springs Fire Department were called to McDonald’s on Elk Street about an oil spill. When Emergency Response personnel arrived, they found an unattended tractor-trailer operated by Andrus Transportation was leaking diesel fuel in the parking lot. An investigation found that the driver team had been travelling on I-80 east of Rock Springs and struck an object in the road. The impact of the object caused a leak in the fuel system. Wyoming Highway Patrol says the vehicle had been reported as a traffic complaint because of the leaking fuel around 11:30 p.m. on April 5th. Troopers were not able to locate the vehicle before it was driven into the parking lot at Flying J Truck Stop. The driver team had parked the vehicle at the McDonald’s and abandoned it while it was still leaking fuel. They did not contact Emergency Services or took steps to contain the fuel leak. Fuel had continued to spill into the parking lot throughout the evening and eventually flowied into a storm drain that emptied into Bitter Creek.

Sweetwater County Emergency Management was called to the scene to determine how much contamination there was in the the parking lot and to Bitter Creek itself. Nearly 100 gallons of diesel fuel had spilled, but it had not contaminated Bitter Creek. Highway Patrol Troopers cited the driver, 53 year old Mark Mull of Saint George, UT, for littering. More investigation is being done by the EPA due to the proximity of the fuel spill with the Bitter Creek waterway. Clean up is being done by D and L Excavation of Rock Springs and the Rock Springs Streets Department.