Pollution responders with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Washington State Department of Ecology are investigating a diesel spill that occurred in Lake Washington Ship Canal’s Salmon Bay Thursday morning.
U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Steve Strohmaier said the spill was reported between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., when members of the Army Corps of Engineers at the Ballard Locks smelled diesel and started to see a sheen forming on the water.
Strohmaier said officials are still determining how much diesel was spilled, its source and whether the spill is ongoing.
Depending on the investigation, pollution responders may try to isolate the spill with a “containment boom” and clean up the spill with absorbent pads, he said.
“It doesn’t take a lot of actual fuel to create a pretty significant sheen over a large swath of area,” Strohmaier said.
The spill occurred at the north end of Salmon Bay near the piers between the Ballard Locks and the Ballard Bridge, close to where Leary Ave Northwest intersects with Northwest Market Street, he said. The area hosts several fishing vessels, which tend to refuel at that location, Strohmaier said.
