Sterling firefighters, city workers help effort to abate diesel spill

STERLING HEIGHTS — Local firefighters, Macomb County officials and others recently moved into action to keep a semi-truck’s diesel spill from becoming a major environmental threat to local watercourses. 

According to the Macomb County Public Works Office, the fuel spill happened in an industrial parking lot near 15 Mile Road, west of Van Dyke Avenue. 

Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice Miller said in a statement that the spill resulted from a thief’s attempt to steal the semi-truck – during which the vehicle reportedly ended up hitting a concrete abutment, damaging the fuel tank. 

Miller said the semi-truck theft attempt happened the night of Feb. 25. According to Sterling Heights officials, the reported theft attempt, subsequent fuel spill and the arrival of city sewer division personnel all happened during the morning hours of Feb. 26. 

The county estimates that 50-80 gallons of fuel could have entered the stormwater system as a result. But county officials credit the Sterling Heights Fire Department and the city’s sewer division for quickly deploying absorbent mats and spreading an “oil dry” substance around a storm drain, thereby keeping significantly more fuel from entering the Busch Drain. 

The Busch Drain flows southward into a section of the Big Beaver Creek that is north of 14 Mile Road – and that water eventually flows to the Red Run Drain, the Clinton River and Lake St. Clair. 

The county Public Works Office said it got involved in the multi-agency response after the Sterling Heights sewer division alerted the county about the problem. Meanwhile, Sterling Heights reportedly got an environmental services contractor to help contain the pollution and remediate the site, which included the placement of containment booms.

According to the county, Warren city workers also contributed and took precautions by setting up an absorbent boom at Big Beaver Creek, by 14 Mile – at the Public Works Office’s recommendation – to further stop any remaining pollution in its tracks.

Miller called the spill “very unfortunate,” but she praised the Sterling Heights Fire Department for its “quick action” and praised others who assisted too.

“It also showed how effective the emergency response can be when the multi-agency notification process is followed,” she said. “When everyone leaps into action like we did today, we protect water quality downstream – especially at Lake St. Clair – by containment and sopping up spills.”

Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor credited the Fire Department and the DPW for their “proactive quick thinking.” 

“Their responsiveness is unquestionably one of the best in the state, if not the best in the state,” he said. “I’m confident that they can address any of these issues that come up, and our public is well served by them.”

Neither the Sterling Heights Fire Department nor the Sterling Heights Department of Public Works responded for comment by press time.  

Learn more about the Macomb County Public Works Office by visiting macombgov.org/departments/public-works. Find out more about Sterling Heights by visiting sterlingheights.gov or by calling (586) 446-2489.