Shortly after noon on April 27 a tanker truck carrying approximately 8,000 gallons of gasoline overturned onto the highway spilling its contents into North St. Vrain Creek. Shortly after, the EPA released a statement stating they were unsure of how much of the total fuel had entered the water, but estimated that somewhere between 500-1000 gallons had likely leaked into the creek on Apple Valley Rd. The effects of that spill were immediately felt by the trout living in that watershed resulting in a large-scale fish kill. So large in fact, that Colorado Parks and Wildlife said they would have to use “statistically valid methods” to accurately estimate the losses due to the widespread scale of the spill.
More recently, the EPA has stated that there are “free-flowing pockets of gasoline were found moving beneath the ground, countering their previous claim that they believed there were “no lingering effects” of the remnant leaked fuel.
CPW is asking anglers and river stewards in the area to keep an eye out for fish kills and to please take images and report them. You can do that by sending the report and media to LyonsFishInfo@state.co.us.
You can read more about the spill and the EPA clean-up efforts, here!
What a shame, this stretch was such a small water gem with some of the prettiest brown trout. This waterway was already suffering from a past flood and now this.