3,000 Gallons Of Milk Mixture Spills Into Petaluma River

PETALUMA, CA — Cleanup efforts were underway Friday after thousands of gallons of a milk mixture spilled into the Petaluma River.

The hazardous materials spill was first reported at 6:05 a.m. Friday at Clover Stornetta, 91 Lakeville St., the Petaluma Fire Department said.

Crew members arrived at the milk processing plant within 6 minutes and were told a pipe broke and approximately 3,000 of a milk mixture made its way into the storm drain, Petaluma Assistant Fire Chief Chad Costa said.

"Crews immediately began investigating how far the substance had traveled and found it had made it into the Petaluma River," Costa said.

The Fire Department placed a containment boom in the Petaluma River to keep the materials from spreading further.

Petaluma Public Works and Ellis Creek Water were contacted and began cleaning the storm drains and sampling the materials that were released.

The California Office of Emergency Services and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife were also notified and will respond as appropriate, Costa said.

In the meantime, a private company contracted by Clover began mitigation and clean-up of the river Friday.

The Fire Department reminded residents that the city's storm drains "release into the Petaluma River and subsequently end up in the ocean so it is important that everyone be vigilant about what is washed down driveways and streets."