SCENE ALL MORNING. JENN, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US? WE MIGHT BE GETTING A LITTLE BIT CLOSER TO THAT PRESS CONFERENCE. CITY OFFICIALS JUST ARRIVED WITH THE PODIUM AND SOME AUDIO EQUIPMENT, SO HOPEFULLY WE’RE GOING TO BE HEARING FROM THE GOVERNOR AND THE MAYOR VERY SHORTLY. BUT I’M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND STEP OUT OF THE WAY SO THAT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE SCENE LOOKS LIKE RIGHT NOW. YOU’VE GOT THE TANKERS THERE ON TOP OF THE BRIDGE HERE AT THE HARBOR EAST MARINA AND THEN BELOW AT THE DOCK, YOU HAVE BAGS THAT ARE FILLED WITH RED SKIMMERS THAT WERE TAKEN OUT OF THE WATER A FEW HOURS AGO, AND NOW THAT IT’S BEEN SITTING THERE FOR A WHILE AND NOW WITH THE LIGHT OF DAY, YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE POOLING DIESEL FUEL THAT’S INSIDE THOSE BAGS THIS MORNING. THEY’VE BEEN USING SKIMMERS TO ABSORB THE DIESEL FUEL FROM THE WATER, AND THEY HAVE BOOMS SET UP IN THE WATER TO KEEP THIS AREA CONTAINED TO JUST THIS AREA HERE, AS THEY’RE TRYING TO GET ALL OF THE FUEL OUT OF THE HARBOR ITSELF. SO LET’S GIVE YOU A TIMELINE OF WHAT HAPPENED. THIS ALL STARTED AROUND 11:00 YESTERDAY MORNING WHEN JOHNS HOPKINS HOSPITAL FIRST REPORTED A CONTAINED, AT THAT TIME, 200 GALLON DIESEL FUEL SPILL AT THEIR FACILITY IN EAST BALTIMORE. BUT BY 1 P.M., THE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT, ALONG WITH THE COAST GUARD, RESPONDED TO A 911 CALL FOR THAT FUEL SPILL HERE AT THE MARINA. AND THEN JUST BEFORE 7:00 LAST NIGHT, NEW INFORMATION HOPKINS GIVING AN UPDATE, SAYING IT WAS A 2000 GALLON UNCONTAINED SPILL. NOW THE LATEST INFORMATION HOURS AGO FROM THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE WAS THAT THIS HAPPENED AT THAT HOSPITAL FACILITY ABOUT A MILE AND A HALF AWAY FROM THE MARINA. IT IS NOW CONTAINED TO THIS SPOT. WE’RE TOLD IT DOES NOT POSE A RISK TO DRINKING WATER. AND WE KNOW THAT THE WATER IS LOOKING RED AND THAT MATERIAL IN THE BAG IS RED BECAUSE OF THE DYE THAT WAS IN THE DIESEL FUEL ITSELF. NOW THE COAST GUARD IS WORKING WITH A CONTRACTOR ON THESE CLEANUP EFFORTS. WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN USING IS THIS ABSORBENT MATERIAL, THESE SKIMMERS THAT ARE FEEDING INTO A 4000 GALLON PUMP TRUCK DRIVERS, OF COURSE, BEING ASKED TO AVOID THE AREA, A NUMBER OF ROADS ARE BLOCKED OFF TO HANDLE THE SITUATION. AND OF COURSE, MORE THAN A ALMOST A DOZEN AGENCIES ARE INVOLVED IN ALL OF THIS. THEY’VE GOT THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, YOU NAME IT, THEY’RE ON SITE. THE CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND THEN, OF COURSE, ANY MINUTE, HOPEFULLY, WE’RE HEARING FROM THE GOVERNOR AND FROM THE MAYOR ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. AVA HAS BROUGHT UP A NUMBER OF REALLY GOOD POINTS ABOUT AIR QUALITY RELATED TO THE OIL ITSELF, CAUSING AN OZONE SITUATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SUN COMES UP AND INTERACTING WITH THAT. SO WE’RE GOING TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT AIR QUALITY. OF COURSE, WE CAN SMELL THE DIESEL FUEL. THE SMELL IS SO STRONG. WE’VE BEEN SMELLING IT ALL MORNING LONG. AND THAT’S JUST, YOU KNOW, THAT’S NOT FUN FOR ANYONE WHO LIVES IN THE AREA. BUT IT’S DEFINITELY GOING TO, OF COURSE, PLAY INTO WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE IN TERMS OF SAFETY FOR EVERYONE. SO WE HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS TO ASK THE GOVERNOR AND THE MAYOR WHEN THIS PRESS CONFERENCE HAPPENS, BUT WE ARE GOING TO KEEP YOU UPDATED, HOPEFULLY BRING YOU THAT LIVE JUST AS SOON AS IT HAPPENS.
Officials: Agencies responding to 2,000-gallon fuel spill from Johns Hopkins Hospital diesel tanks
Updated: 9:01 AM EDT Jun 5, 2025
Multiple Maryland and Baltimore City agencies are responding to a 2,000-gallon fuel spill that began Wednesday in Harbor East, officials said.*UPDATE*(6 a.m.) Officials held a press conference to provide an update on the cleanup efforts of the 2,000-gallon fuel spill in Baltimore’s Harbor East.Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said agencies have been involved with the cleanup efforts since around 2 p.m. Wednesday.”Watching the coordination that we’ve seen here has not just been important. It’s been incredibly impressive. And I’d also like to recognize all of the emergency crew, the emergency personnel from the city of Baltimore, from the state of Maryland, and also from the United States Coast Guard. This has been a robust and a truly collective effort that we’ve now seen ten different city and state agencies that have been deployed, and we’ve mobilized assets from local, state, and also on the federal levels,” Gov. Moore said.”Obviously, you can smell that gas and we can see the oil on the water. But we know people understand the concern. But again, as you just heard, there is no impact to drinking water. And we’re doing everything that we can to mitigate any environmental impacts of the spill,” Scott said.Video Below: Raw press conference on 2,000-gallon fuel spill in Harbor EastOfficials said just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, Johns Hopkins Hospital reported a contained 200 gallon diesel spill at their East Baltimore facility. Around two hours later, Baltimore City fire was dispatched to respond to a 911 call about a diesel fuel spill in a Harbor East marina. Multiple agencies “stood up a coordinated response” an hour later, according to a news release.”Once the contractors arrived, we began to skim product off of the water. This is a heating oil product. You’ll notice that it’s red. So we began to skim that off the water and contain that through the remainder of the night into the early morning. And where we are right now, we’ve began an operation where we’re opening up fire hydrants, and we’re starting to flush the storm drain system,” Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said. Shortly before 7 p.m., Hopkins said the spill was uncontained and had reached 2,000 gallons.”So, throughout the course of the night, while we were amassing the resources needed to do the cleanup, we were sitting there mapping out, following the storm drain maps so we could isolate and and ensure that we knew where the product flow was going to be so that when we do begin the flushing operation, or we did that earlier this morning, that we knew where it was going to come out and there were no unexpected consequences there,” Jeff Dorney with the Maryland Department of Environment, said. In a statement sent Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Hopkins said:”Earlier today, during routine fuel delivery by a third-party vendor, two diesel tanks which power for backup generators for our patient care facilities at Johns Hopkins in East Baltimore were accidentally overfilled causing overflow. We immediately notified the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) of the overflow while continuing to investigate, and we proactively reached out again to MDE as we learned more about the estimated overflow volume. We also are actively working with local, state, and federal authorities to support the response in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.”Officials said the spill is contained to a marina roughly 100 yards by 250 yards, while MDE said the red color comes from the dye in the diesel fuel.”So, the incident footprint right now on the water is is behind us. It’s approximately 100 yards wide by about 250 yards long. We have it contained within this particular footprint as we flush upstream. We’re going to bring product down. We’re going to bring it into this area. But the strategy has been contained where we’re at right now.The Coast Guard, which is in charge of command, is working with Miller Environmental Group, a contractor. The contractor is using oil-absorbent materials and skimmers at the scene.
Multiple Maryland and Baltimore City agencies are responding to a 2,000-gallon fuel spill that began Wednesday in Harbor East, officials said.
*UPDATE*(6 a.m.) Officials held a press conference to provide an update on the cleanup efforts of the 2,000-gallon fuel spill in Baltimore’s Harbor East.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said agencies have been involved with the cleanup efforts since around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
“Watching the coordination that we’ve seen here has not just been important. It’s been incredibly impressive. And I’d also like to recognize all of the emergency crew, the emergency personnel from the city of Baltimore, from the state of Maryland, and also from the United States Coast Guard. This has been a robust and a truly collective effort that we’ve now seen ten different city and state agencies that have been deployed, and we’ve mobilized assets from local, state, and also on the federal levels,” Gov. Moore said.
“Obviously, you can smell that gas and we can see the oil on the water. But we know people understand the concern. But again, as you just heard, there is no impact to drinking water. And we’re doing everything that we can to mitigate any environmental impacts of the spill,” Scott said.
Video Below: Raw press conference on 2,000-gallon fuel spill in Harbor East
Officials said just after 11 a.m. Wednesday, Johns Hopkins Hospital reported a contained 200 gallon diesel spill at their East Baltimore facility. Around two hours later, Baltimore City fire was dispatched to respond to a 911 call about a diesel fuel spill in a Harbor East marina. Multiple agencies “stood up a coordinated response” an hour later, according to a news release.
“Once the contractors arrived, we began to skim product off of the water. This is a heating oil product. You’ll notice that it’s red. So we began to skim that off the water and contain that through the remainder of the night into the early morning. And where we are right now, we’ve began an operation where we’re opening up fire hydrants, and we’re starting to flush the storm drain system,” Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said.
Shortly before 7 p.m., Hopkins said the spill was uncontained and had reached 2,000 gallons.
“So, throughout the course of the night, while we were amassing the resources needed to do the cleanup, we were sitting there mapping out, following the storm drain maps so we could isolate and and ensure that we knew where the product flow was going to be so that when we do begin the flushing operation, or we did that earlier this morning, that we knew where it was going to come out and there were no unexpected consequences there,” Jeff Dorney with the Maryland Department of Environment, said.
In a statement sent Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Hopkins said:
“Earlier today, during routine fuel delivery by a third-party vendor, two diesel tanks which power for backup generators for our patient care facilities at Johns Hopkins in East Baltimore were accidentally overfilled causing overflow. We immediately notified the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) of the overflow while continuing to investigate, and we proactively reached out again to MDE as we learned more about the estimated overflow volume. We also are actively working with local, state, and federal authorities to support the response in the Baltimore Inner Harbor.”
Officials said the spill is contained to a marina roughly 100 yards by 250 yards, while MDE said the red color comes from the dye in the diesel fuel.
“So, the incident footprint right now on the water is is behind us. It’s approximately 100 yards wide by about 250 yards long. We have it contained within this particular footprint as we flush upstream. We’re going to bring product down. We’re going to bring it into this area. But the strategy has been contained where we’re at right now.
The Coast Guard, which is in charge of command, is working with Miller Environmental Group, a contractor. The contractor is using oil-absorbent materials and skimmers at the scene.
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