While the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico rages on, other oil spills still occur on a daily basis. These spills range between very minor, such as a small leak in a pipe, to massive spills with gallons numbering in the thousands to millions. An oil spill recently occurred in Utah that was minimal compared to the one in the Gulf, however, wildlife has already been considerably affected.
Officials in Salt Lake City have determined that an oil pipeline running from Colorado to Utah began leaking at 10 p.m. Friday night. Unfortunately, the leak was not discovered until around 7 a.m. the next morning when oil was seen in the impacted Red Butte Creek. It has been determined that approximately 50 gallons of crude oil escaped from the pipe each minute.
Upwards of 21,000 gallons of crude oil have escaped from the pipeline before it was able to be shut off at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday morning. The oil pipeline is owned by Chevron and Chevron has subsequently taken full responsibility for the impacts and cost of cleanup. Officials are most concerned with the oil reaching the Great Salt Lake.
Wildlife is taking the brunt of the oil spill in the Gulf, with thousands of birds and marine animals covered in oil and others succumbing to the impacts of oil. The oil appeared to immediately be taking a toll on the wildlife in Salt Lake City as well. As of Saturday afternoon the oil had already made its way four miles down the creek to the Jordan River. In these locations residents were already indicating that there were dead fish.
In addition to reported dead fish, there were many birds that were coated in oil. At least 150 birds were taken in order to be cleaned and treated due to exposure to oil. A large majority of the birds were said to be Canadian geese. Tom Aldridge, from the Utah Division of Wildlife Services, stated: “A lot of them are just coated from about the water line, but there are a number of birds that started preening and have oil completely covering their bodies.”
It is not yet known what the extent of the damage will be, however, officials are predicting it will take many weeks to clean up the area. Booms and dams have already been created in order to contain the spill, with residents hopeful that the spill was caught before serious damage occurred.
