Members of the Miami County Haz-Mat Team construct a barrier across a waterway at Treasure Island to contain a large spill of what is beleived to be a petrolium-based product and prevent additional amounts of the substance from entering the Great Miami River, on May 2, 2023.
By Mike Ullery
TROY —Diesel fuel has been identified as the probable substance that leaked into an area waterway that leads to the Great Miami River on Wednesday..
Assistant Chief Wade Dexter of the Troy Fire Department said that officials are “pretty sure” that the liquid that was discovered in the waterway on Wednesday evening is diesel fuel. Investigators are following several leads in identifying the source of the leak.
Dexter stressed that the incident “is an isolated event and the spill has been contained.”
Troy firefighters were called to a possible spill when a Westbrook resident reported an oily sheen on a small waterway in the subdivision around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May, 2, 2023.
Responding units verified a substance, believed to be a petroleum-based product, was in the waterway.
The Miami County Haz-Mat Team was called out to handle the situation. They quickly determined the spill was fairly large and had already begun to reach the Great Miami River. Crews immediately began to construct a barrier across the waterway at Treasure Island Park in order to prevent additional contaminants from entering the river.
As that project was underway, additional team members began working their way upstream to attempt to locate the source of the spill.
In addition to Troy Fire Department, the Ohio EPA and State Fire Marshal’s Office are assisting in the investigation.
