About 32,000 gallons of water and fuel have been recovered from the creek, but Stanley said he didn't know what percentage of that actually is fuel. State Department of Natural Resources contract crews removed about 60 trees deemed an immediate hazard, said agency spokesman Mark Morrow. Those trees posed significant danger to biologists taking samples in the river and other work crews, he said. Some other trees that were burned will need to be removed, while others that were burned superficially may not be dead, he said. On Tuesday, only about five of the 35 DNR crewmembers remained in the park checking for hot spots, he said.
Deciduous trees rot and crumble faster than the conifers do.
Decisions on those trees will be left up to city officials, Morrow said. Most of the pipeline, which runs from Ferndale to Portland, Ore., is underground. The state's major fuel line, it delivers diesel, aviation fuel and gasoline from refineries in Whatcom and Skagit counties to terminals, mostly along the Interstate 5 corridor. At the point where the pipeline crosses Whatcom Creek, it is a 16-inch steel pipe. 1155 N. State.