A fuel spill in Baltimore on Wednesday turned parts of the Inner Harbor red and prompted ongoing cleanup efforts, city officials said. 

The fuel overflowed from diesel tanks belonging to a third-party vendor for Johns Hopkins Hospital. The leak spilled about 2,000 gallons of fuel into the storm drain system, which flows to the water in Fells Point, according to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). 

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said Thursday afternoon that the cleanup effort is progressing, and the water has lost its red tint.

"I want to underscore our gratitude to the women and men who have worked tirelessly to address this spill," Mayor Scott said. "We committed to doing this right, and we are committed to doing it together, and that means ensuring the safety of our residents and wildlife, above all else."

Johns Hopkins said in a statement it is "fully committed to funding the cleanup and remediation efforts in the Inner Harbor, including any impacts to local wildlife."

A Johns Hopkins spokesperson added that it is reviewing how the tanks spilled fuel into the harbor.

Cleanup of Baltimore fuel spill 

The state says 18,000 gallons of oil-water mixture have been recovered so far. Four contract companies are working alongside local, state, and federal partners. The attack to contain and get rid of the oil is by land and sea, according to Baltimore City Fire.

On Thursday morning, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said 10 city and state agencies had been deployed to clean up the spill and mitigate any environmental impacts. 

More than 100 personnel from the U.S. Coast Guard, City Department of Public Works, and City Fire Department worked overnight to contain the fuel. 

The governor said crews used absorbent material and a skimmer to feed the fuel into a pump truck. 

There was no evidence to suggest the spill impacted drinking water in the area, according to the governor. The spill turned the harbor red due to the dye in the fuel, officials said. 

"It's the same product as your standard diesel fuel that you can get at the gas station," said Ryan Workman, from Taylor Oil Company in Brooklyn Park. "They just put a little bit of red dye in there to give it that pinkish, reddish hue. It's used for farming equipment, construction equipment, generators, heating oil.". 

Fire officials said the clean-up efforts were expected to continue through Thursday and into Friday, along with a lingering odor from the fuel in the water. 

"We can smell gas, obviously you can smell that gas, and we see oil on the water, we know people are understandably concerned," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. 

The state says that while some of the fuel can evaporate and there is a smell, there is no air quality concern. Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland are taking air samples for testing.

Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said four contract companies were at the harbor with vacuum trucks and boats.

The fire department opened fire hydrants in the area to flush the storm drain system and contain the fuel.

"Not long after we initiated that, we began to see the results," Wallace said. "We began to see the fuel pushing down. That's been a successful operation."

Contractors also skimmed the surface of the water to pull the fuel off the water and vacuumed it into the truck.

"If you were out here this morning, that water was red," Wallace said. "Last night it was even worse. It was like wine. Today, as we stand here now, the water is turning back to its normal color. We have not only been able to isolate the product, but we have also been able to remove it from the surface."

Wallace said the department is being proactive to prevent the spread of the fuel, using booms across the harbor. Several chains of absorbent material will take in oil, while the final boom will prevent it from spreading.

Overnight, a smaller crew will remain at the harbor to make sure the fuel spill remains contained.

"Our people have been working around the clock since yesterday," Wallace said. "We are going to reduce in size strategically, but we will be maintaining a very strong presence throughout the night so that if the situation were to change, we are able to react to it." 

DNR rescues wildlife impacted by fuel spill

The Department of Natural Resources said its crews responded to protect and check on the wildlife impacted by the fuel spill. The National Aquarium is also helping with this effort.

Secretary Josh Coates said 25 birds and three turtles were removed and taken to Tri-State, which is an organization that cleans and gives health checks to wildlife in the middle of fuel and oil spills.

Coates added that there are no concerns for the turtle population in the area.

"We will continue to work to keep animals away from the water," Coates said. "If any animals do come in contact with the water, we will take necessary precautions to ensure that they are safe."

Road closures in Baltimore

Scott said emergency road closures are in effect in Harbor East, focused near S. Central Avenue and expanding several blocks from the site of the spill.  

Traffic disruptions are expected throughout the day, and police officers will be on site to guide traffic.

Additional road closures are in place in areas of East Baltimore, near Johns Hopkins Hospital, Fayette Street, and nearby side streets, according to the mayor. 

Harbor East business impact

While cleanup happens on the water, businesses are dealing with the impacts on land.

Businesses have been dealing with road closures, with clients not able to get to them. That includes morning classes in resistance cycling.

"We had some people come in late, and then we had some people who kind of canceled class that morning," said Josh Carlegis, manager at Resistance Cycling. "A lot of our clients walk here, and they're local to the area. The people coming from the county do run into issues, and then so if they get here and they're not able to make it, they just turn around and go back."

At Attmans Deli, foot traffic was steady. Delivery orders were another story.

"[We will lose] Grub Hub, Doordash and Uber [Eats]…only because of the fact that they won't try multiple times to get to us," said Jeffrey Meyers, from the management team at Attmans. "[It's] probably almost a third of our business. It will impact us some today."

Where and when did the spill originate? 

Johns Hopkins said the tanks of diesel fuel supply power for backup generators at its patient care facilities in East Baltimore.

According to the mayor's office, Johns Hopkins Hospital reported the spill around 11 a.m. Wednesday. Around 12:58 p.m., the Baltimore City Fire Department responded to a 911 call for a diesel fuel spill at a marina in Harbor East.

Later, at 2 p.m., city and state officials, along with the U.S. Coast Guard, began working on a coordinated response.

Around 6:48 p.m., Hopkins reported that the amount of fuel that spilled was 2,000 gallons. 

"Right now, we are focused on this effort, the cleanup, the prevention of it expanding," Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said. "There will be a time when we move to that, the investigation period, we are not at that point yet."

Maryland Gov. Moore said he and his team went to the site of the spill.

The spill is contained in the marina at the S. Central Avenue Bridge in Harbor East, in an area roughly 100 x 250 yards, the city said. 

The Coast Guard is working with the contractor Miller Environmental Group in order to clean up the spill. 

"Once the contractors arrived, we began to skim product off the water. This is a heating oil product. You'll notice that it's red...we've begun an operation where we're opening up fire hydrants, and we're starting to flush the storm drain system," Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said.

• Baltimore City