On 10/24/2013 at 2130 hrs, a tanker carrying diesel and unleaded gas hit an elk on U.S. Highway 26 near Milepost 82. Approximately 1500 gallons of diesel, and 3500 gallons of unleaded gas were released to soil northeast of the road soil approximately 250 yards from Beaver Creek, a tributary of the Warm Springs River, which flows to the Deschutes River and then onto the Columbia River. Beaver Creek feeds to the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Fish hatchery which is currently raising 1.3 million fry of chinook salmon, bull trout and steelhead trout.
EPA, ODOT, ODEQ, Gresham Hazmat, and representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs responded to the site. The RP - Central Petro out of Bend, Oregon - hired SMAF Environmental to perform the clean-up and prevent the fuel from reaching Beaver Creek.
