June 17, 2025
Diesel spill in Baltimore Harbor East, red sheen is due to dye in the fuel. Credit: Maryland Department of the Environment
On the afternoon of June 4, an estimated 5,000-gallons of diesel fuel overflowed into storm drains that emptied into the Chesapeake Bay near Fells Point, Maryland. The Maryland Department of the Environment contacted NOAA to assist with air quality monitoring around cleanup operations the next day.
Dr. Xinrong Ren and Phillip Stratton, scientists with NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory (ARL), received the call to bring in ARL’s Air Resources Car (ARC) in case hazardous materials had been released into the atmosphere from the spill. Dr. Stratton and Lapenta summer intern Jaden Lau promptly deployed in the ARC, looking for EPA criteria pollutants, trace gases and longer chain hydrocarbons. These hazardous materials that could have been released from the spill could contribute to odors and pose serious health concerns.
Exposure to longer-chain hydrocarbons, for example, can damage the respiratory, nervous and cardiovascular systems depending on the type of hydrocarbon and the amount and duration of time someone is exposed. The ARC, a mobile platform that collects measurements from the air as it drives around the city, was able to drive around the clean up area and surrounding areas in Baltimore collecting data looking for those materials.
The collected data were provided to Maryland’s Department of the Environment to support their communications with residents of Fells Point and the greater Baltimore area.