Anaheim : 300-Gallon Fuel Spill Contained Near Ocean

Three hundred gallons of diesel fuel spilled into a flood control channel in Anaheim on Thursday, flowing through four cities before it was contained near the ocean, authorities said.

The spill occurred at about 9:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of South Allec Street when a 18-wheel truck backing out of a driveway sheared off a valve connecting two 150-gallon diesel tanks.

The fuel spilled onto the street and then into an underground flood control drain, where it was inaccessible to authorities trying to contain it, according to Capt. Bill Van Horn, supervisor of the Anaheim Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Team.

Van Horn said teams from Westminster and Newport Beach were called in to set up absorbent booms at points where the flood control drain becomes an open channel.

Van Horn said most of the fuel was contained where the underground drain first opens near Katella Avenue. However, some fuel may have gotten as far as Sunset Aquatic Harbor in Huntington Beach, he added.

“As far as I know, none got into the ocean,” he said.

Van Horn said authorities in Westminster and Huntington Beach received numerous calls from residents who reported a strong diesel smell where the open channel passes through their cities.