GLENDALE : City Sues Oil Firm Over 1992 Fuel Spill

City officials have filed suit against Diamond Oil Co. of Montebello to recover costs for cleaning up a fuel spill last December near Glendale Community College.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday afternoon, seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory damages and court fees.

It accuses Diamond Oil Co., its president, Frank V. Sauer Jr., and driver Vernon William Territ of being negligent in the Dec. 8, 1992, spill at Mountain Street and Verdugo Road.

Sauer said Thursday that he was not aware of the suit and that his firm’s insurance company in Houston was handling the case.

Gregory P. Martin, an attorney for Ranger Insurance Co., could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Territ, 30, of La Puente had told Glendale police that his 1979 Peterbilt tanker’s brakes failed after driving down Mountain Street and trying to turn right onto Verdugo Road.

His truck overturned and a portion of his load, diesel fuel and gasoline, spilled into the intersection.

He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

A subsequent California Highway Patrol report showed the tanker carrying 3,850 gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline was speeding with poorly maintained brakes.

Police had to close a nearby freeway off-ramp and call on firefighters and public service workers to prevent gasoline and diesel fuel from polluting storm drains and basins.

“All the city wants is reimbursement for the money we spent in responding to the overturned tanker,” said Deputy City Atty. Carmen O. Merino. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to work it out.”

Total costs for personnel and equipment and the 16- to 17-hour cleanup reached $25,000, Merino said. A meeting with Martin has been scheduled for Thursday, Merino said.