Post-Bulletin staff
The Austin Fire Department responded to the smell of fuel Tuesday near the Austin Auto Truck Plaza, and found that some fuel had run off in a drainage ditch leading toward East Side Lake.
Chief Dan Wilson said the department was able to capture some of the run-off; he is unsure how much leaked.
The fuel and some water flowed into a drainage ditch leading through a culvert under Interstate 90 and toward East Side Lake.
Firefighters set-up barricades to keep the fuel from draining into the lake. Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Rochester office was notified. Then MPCA and firefighters cleaned up the fuel.
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Moez Manji, general manager of Austin Auto Truck Plaza, said he suspects a minor amount of diesel might have washed into the drainage ditch that runs between the plaza and I-90 with the recent rain and wind.
Manji said he will be cleaning the diesel islands more often to prevent such incidents.
