Major Oil Spill Contaminates Potomac River

WASHINGTON - Crews on Friday will continue cleaning up the 500 to 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel that poured in the Potomac River, but don't look for the federal government to be fined for the mess.

"Typically the federal government is not fined by a county, state or a city agency," George S. Hawkins George Hawkins, director of the D.C. Department of the Environment, tells WTOP.

The diesel fuel poured into the river after a malfunction at a nearby federal heating plant. There is no threat to the region's drinking water, and the oil has been contained.

The federal government will pay for the cleanup. The spill has left dead fish floating in the oil slick that covers the water around the Fisherman's Wharf.

"We will talk to GSA (General Services Administration) about what steps they will take not only to remove the oil, but what supplemental project might they do to improve and return it to the condition it was prior," Hawkins says.

He says it's a good thing the spill was caught quickly.

"If this had not been caught, this would have caused significant consequence spreading out all over the river."

If a private company had been responsible for the spill, Hawkins says the company would have been fined about $25,000 a day until it was cleaned up.

The smell of diesel was so strong Thursday that people with respiratory problems were told to stay away.

The spill was caused by a malfunction at a steam plant that provides heat to about 100 federal buildings.

(Copyright 2007 by WTOP Radio and The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)