DEQ release – Statewide, OR—Federal, state and local responders continue to clean up spilled fuel and contaminated soil along the banks of the North Santiam River near Idanha – east of Salem and Detroit Lake on OR 22 – following a crash on Feb. 16. The agencies responsible for managing the response are monitoring water quality in the area of the tanker crash. Latest water sampling data from the North Santiam River following the crash and spill shows petroleum-related chemicals are present at levels that decrease with distance downstream from the site. Except for at the crash site, all water samples contained extremely low levels of petroleum-related chemicals, at concentrations far below safe drinking water levels. Petroleum contaminants in river water that may reach drinking water intakes downstream are expected to remain below regulatory standards. Communities closest to the spill pull drinking water from tributaries to the river and not the North Santiam itself. The nearest drinking water intake on the North Santiam is 25 miles downstream from the spill site and below Detroit Lake.
