30 Gallons Of Diesel Fuel Spills Into Irrigation Supply Water At Freedom 250 Event

If, like me, you're unfortunate enough to also be plagued by morbid curiosity that forces you to keep up with current events, you're likely aware of the organization that is Freedom 250. For those of you who haven't doom-scrolled far enough to reach these particular stories just yet, Freedom 250 is a public-private group, created by the Trump administration, to lead celebrations of the 250th anniversary of our adoption of the Declaration of Independence — not to be confused with America250, the non-profit organization Congress established a decade ago to celebrate the nation's anniversary. 

According to NBC News, the Freedom 250 organization hosted an event called Rededicate 250 on the National Mall on May 17, and the generators used to power Freedom 250's temporary lighting managed to spill over 30 gallons of diesel. That diesel seeped into the grass and ultimately into underground reservoirs that collect up to 250,000 gallons of rainwater to irrigate the Mall, which is bad.

Representatives from Freedom 250 told NBC that the spill was the result of vandalism, claiming that vandals have repeatedly targeted and tampered with its equipment, and the damaged generator fuel line that spilled the 30 gallons of diesel was a "direct result of that tampering." According to other reports, representatives from Freedom 250 go as far as saying that fuel lines were cut, but some government documents say the generators being used lacked the required containment measures. 

A Freedom 250 spokesperson told NBC that the organization mobilized within minutes of discovering the damaged generator fuel line to coordinate a cleanup response and fully remediate the site in partnership with the National Park Service. Typically, the National Park Service would hold the permit holder for the event liable for the mitigation of such a significant spill, but NBC says it's unclear if Freedom 250 are responsible for funding the cleanup. There were environmental remediation trucks and "Rain For Rent" trailers seen on the Mall where the spill occurred, indicating that the underground rainwater reservoirs used to irrigate the grass were indeed contaminated.

Diesel fuel is a heavier, more energy-dense petroleum product than gasoline. When gasoline is spilled, some of it evaporates into the air, particularly in warm sunny climates, but diesel doesn't evaporate as rapidly, so more of it is likely to soak into the soil. The most common way of cleaning diesel spills is by excavating contaminated soil and disposing of it at a designated hazardous waste site. We will have to wait and see how environmental remediation companies handle the over 30-gallon spill on the National Mall, and how much it damage the spill has done.