Fuel found in lake bed

By Jennifer McBride/Leader Staff

FINLEY POINT — Gas was discovered in the Flathead Lake bed for the first time on May 13 in the wake of a spill off Highway 35. A pup tank overturned almost two months ago, spilling 6,400 gallons of fuel. Since then, five homes — two residential and three seasonal — have had to be evacuated and the truck's insurance company has sunk almost $1 million into site clean-up, according to Steve Stanley, director of the Lake County Office of Emergency Management.

Stanley said the product in the lake bed is minimal. "It's quarts, if that," he said. So far, there's been no measurable damage to the lake wildlife or fish.

Cedar Creek is still working on efforts to contain the product by digging ditches around the lake, spreading absorbent and placing carbon filters in two contaminated streams. Stanley said the engineering company is working to ensure that the lake water remains clean as the water level rises with snow melt.

"The design takes the lake level into account," he said.

Meanwhile, nobody knows when the evacuees can come home.

"People keep trying to put a number on it," Stanley said. "There have been some guesses, but no one has a date at this moment."

Stanley said the clean-up is far from over.

"We're now hunkering down for the long haul," he said.