Diesel fuel spills into Lake Superior
State regulators are monitoring a diesel fuel spill in far northeast Minnesota that leaked into Lake Superior.
A semi overturned on Highway 61 Tuesday near the town of Little Marais, spilling 70 to 80 gallons of diesel from the truck's fuel tanks. Some of the fuel flowed down a drainage ditch into Lake Superior, leaving behind a thin petroleum sheen along about a quarter-mile of shoreline.
Officials with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency say a clean up company responded within two hours of the crash. The company used absorbent pads and booms to soak up fuel in the ditch.
But MPCA officials say once the fuel disperses in the lake, it's impossible to recover. The agency will monitor the site over the next few days. Officials say there was little environmental damage done to Lake Superior.
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