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Willard Bay North Marina Will Stay Closed Past July 4th

Dan Bammes

The South Marina at Willard Bay State Park is open and operating, but the North Marina will remain closed through the July 4th holiday weekend.  

A Chevron pipeline next to I-15 split open on March 18th and spilled thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into a wetlands area and a pond near the beach and the camping areas at the park’s North Marina.  Chevron undertook a massive cleanup that’s recovered most of the spilled fuel and kept all but a tiny fraction from getting into the reservoir.  But Lieutenant Eric Stucki with the Utah Division of State Parks says they won’t know whether job is finished until later this month.

“They are waiting for soil and water samples to come back the middle of July," Stucki tells KUER. "And once they come back, they will meet with risk management, the Division of State Risk Management, and determine if we have a clean bill, so to speak, of health to open up the place or not.”

Six beavers rescued from a pond at the park have been treated for their exposure to diesel fuel. Stucki says they’ll be relocated -- they won’t be coming back to Willard Bay.

While Chevron could still face fines from the Utah Division of Water Quality over the spill, it no longer owns the pipeline.  Chevron sold it to Tesoro Logistics last month.  That company says it will invest as much as 25-million dollars inspecting and improving the integrity of the pipeline system.

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