Fuel Pipe Leak Closes Street

About 50 gallons of marine diesel fuel from a pipeline leak bubbled up into some streets Friday, resulting in closure of a portion of Bloomfield Avenue in Los Alamitos until the fuel could be cleaned up later in the day, authorities said.

The leak occurred at 11:48 a.m. on Bloomfield Avenue between Cerritos Avenue and Ball Road, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Department said.

Marine diesel fuel bubbled to the surface of the road in four places on that road when Powerline Oil Co. in Santa Fe Springs, which owns the pipeline running beneath Bloomfield, pressurized it to test for leaks, fire spokeswoman Patti Range said.

Fourteen firefighters and a hazardous-materials fire truck went to the scene, Range said. The firefighters built dikes to contain the fuel runoff and prevent it from contaminating underground water supplies, she said.

The pipeline company had hired a contractor to clean up the spill Friday, Range said. Northbound Bloomfield was closed until the cleanup was completed, she said.