I called the hospital's director of facilities, Romel Punsalan first, and then City of Takoma Park, who took my report and finally the Maryland Department of the Environment who referred the case to the County. I then went home to bathe my poor dog, who reeked of gasoline. I realize now that I should have called the fire department immediately.

Mr. Punsalan picked up my voicemail and went to the scene. The red fluid turned out to be deisel fuel (dyed red to distinguish it from a higher grade deisel) to power their generator. I believe Mr. Punsalan called the fire department.

Barb Matthews, of the City of Takoma Park reported this:

Montgomery County Fire's Hazmat team treated the immediate area with absorbent material and coordinated additional response with WAH Plant Safety personnel. HAZMAT personnel departed the scene at approximately 2100 hours. WAH is calculating the exact amount of fuel spilled and contracted with an environmental clean-up response company. The company responded last night with equipment, including "boom and absorbent material."

And the spin team at WAH immediately went into PR damage control with this:

Dean Teague of Washington Adventist Hospital: Most of the diesel fuel was blocked from entering the creek by snow banks; however, some fuel entered the creek. The exact quantity of fuel that was discharged is still being calculated.

It is laughable to claim "most" of the fuel was blocked by the snowbanks, as I witnessed the exact opposite, both at the scene and at the creek. I will be following up with the County to see what action will be taken against the hospital. My call to Jere Stocks, WAH president, has not been returned.

Stay tuned for updates.
Marty Ittner
Steward of Section 2

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Update by Marty Ittner
Jan 31, 2011

On Monday, Jan. 31st, I received calls from WAH President Jere Stocks and Vice President, Ancillary & Support Services Dean Teague.

Both expressed apologies for the spill and gratitude for my actions, citing that it would have been alot worse. Mr. Teague has offered to speak with anyone further should they have any questions. Contact me for his info: marty@m-art.us

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Update by Robert E. Jepson
Vice President - Adventist HealthCare
Feb 1, 2011

Mayor/City Council:

As you well know, late Thursday afternoon a diesel generator supplying electricity to the conference center building on the Washington Adventist Hospital campus leaked about 200-225 gallons of fuel onto the hospital property. The generator was turned on because the conference center had lost power during the snowstorm. This is a stand alone generator that is separate from the hospital building. The fuel leaked into a snow bank on the hospital property and some of it spilled into Sligo Creek.

We don't know the exact amount that spilled into Sligo Creek, but obviously any amount is too much and we are very concerned to ensure an environmentally safe and clean property adjoining Sligo Creek. We are very sorry this occurred and we have changed our procedures regarding generator operations.

A neighbor walking in the area notified us of the leak late Thursday afternoon January 27, and the hospital took the following steps to address the situation:

- The hospital contacted Montgomery County Fire/Rescue who responded with their hazmat team and placed special fuel absorbent booms in the affected areas.

- On Thursday the hospital notified the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), the Montgomery County Department of the Environment and the Federal Environmental Protection Agency.

- On Thursday we left a message with Barb Matthews with the City of Takoma Park and spoke directly with her on Friday.

- On Thursday the hospital contracted with a firm recommended by MDE which began clean up that evening, continuing their work throughout Friday. The crew removed snow and dirt into which the fuel had leaked and removed as much fuel as possible from the creek.

- On Friday the hospital called in a company to service the generator and help identify the cause of the problem. The problem was identified as a malfunction in an automatic switch that keeps fuel supplied to a reservoir tank while the generator is running. The hospital has changed its procedure for managing the generator and will now manually operate the switch and monitor it with personnel on site.

Please let me know if you have questions, comments or would like more information. Thank you.

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