Crews work to contain leak

Staff report

CORTLAND

Emergency crews worked Friday to contain fuel that leaked into a tributary of Walnut Creek near the Fowler Township line.

Capt. Todd Price of the Cortland Fire Department said there is no danger to drinking-water supplies.

Walnut Creek empties into Mosquito Lake, which is Warren’s water supply.

It runs through the city off Everett-Hull Road.

Price said the fire department got a call about 3:30 p.m. from the Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency, and also from the Soil and Water Bureau.

“People out walking smelled diesel [fuel] in the creek,” he said.

“We went up at 3:30 and found petroleum product in the water, and it was traveling down.”

“We placed booms,” he continued, “and looked for the source.”

The source was a home off Everett-Hull Road near the Fowler Township line that has several semi trucks parked in its yard, he said.

The trucks are parked there all the time, and over the years, leaking fuel has saturated the ground, he said.

The fire department called out the county Hazardous Materials Team, he said, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency also is monitoring the leak.