CLEVELAND — Crews are continuing their investigation and cleanup Sunday for an unknown substance that was released Friday into Lake Erie at the Forest City Yacht Club in Cleveland.
The crews are operating under the direction of a unified command, consisting of the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, City of Cleveland Public Utilities, and Cleveland Public Power.
Cleveland Public Power has accepted the role of responsible party for the cleanup.
The spilled product coming from an outflow pipe near the marina appears to have ceased.
Investigators believe the outflow pipe is connected to the nearby Cleveland Public Power plant and Coast Guard pollution responders have taken samples to determine if the recovered product matches the product samples taken from the plant.
As of Saturday evening, two Clean Harbors-operated vacuum trucks completed work on about 20 feet of shoreline and recovered about 1,500 gallons of contaminated lake water. The protective boom was also repositioned to account for changing overnight weather conditions.
"We are working closely with our partners in the unified command to clean up this spill quickly and safely," said Cmdr. Joe Higgins, Coast Guard incident commander. "We are pleased with the level of support received and anticipate that cleanup operations will continue throughout the day."
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is responding to any reports of impacted wildlife.
A Coast Guard pollution responder from Marine Safety Unit Cleveland and a contractor from Clean Harbors remained on scene overnight to monitor the situation.
The investigation and cleanup operations are ongoing, and more information will be released as the situation develops and it becomes available.
Previous releases from this case can be found here and here.