At 8:01 a.m., Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the Loudoun County Emergency Communications Center dispatched fire and rescue units, to include the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue (LCFR) Hazardous Materials Team, to a report of oil or fuel floating in the creek near South King Street in Leesburg.
Fire and rescue crews arrived on the scene and confirmed that fuel was floating in the waterway. Firefighters quickly began deploying hazmat containment booms in the waterways at multiple locations. The fuel had traveled downstream from King Street to Plaza Street and was found in both the Town Branch and the Tuscarora Creek waterways. Once the fuel was contained, fire and rescue crews began searching for the source of the fuel.
It was quickly determined the leaking fuel was caused by the overfilling of a tank for a backup generator at Inova Loudoun Hospital’s Cornwall campus. The spilled fuel travelled from this location to the creek through storm drains.
Inova staff is working with an environmental cleaning contractor, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Town of Leesburg, and the LCFR Fire Marshal’s Office to mitigate any damage caused by this incident. The incident scene has been turned over to Inova as they monitor the clean-up process. This process could take several days to complete. Residents in the immediate area may notice a residual odor or petroleum sheen on waterways as the cleanup continues. The source of the leak has been contained and there is no ongoing public threat.
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