FOX Weather has you covered with the breaking forecasts and weather news headlines for your Weather in America on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Get the latest from FOX Weather Meteorologist Britta Merwin.
BALTIMORE – State and local officials are continuing their work Thursday to clean up a 2,000-gallon diesel fuel spill reported at a marina in Baltimore on Wednesday afternoon.
The state of Maryland, City of Baltimore officials, and the U.S. Coast Guard have been working tirelessly since Wednesday afternoon to pool resources to evaluate, respond to and contain the spill, according to Gov. Wes Mooreand their work continued through the overnight hours into Thursday morning.
Moore’s office has referred to the spill as an oil spill, but officials later described the spill as diesel fuel.
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This image shows a diesel fuel spill in Baltimore on June 4, 2025.
(@MDEnvironment/X / FOX Weather)
According to information provided by Moore, Johns Hopkins Hospital reported a contained 200-gallon diesel spill at their facilities in East Baltimore just after 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Nearly two hours later, the Baltimore City Fire Department was dispatched to respond to a 911 call reporting a diesel fuel spill at a marina in Harbor East.
A coordinated response between the state of Maryland, the City of Baltimore and the U.S. Coast Guard began an hour later.
Just before 7 p.m. Wednesday, Johns Hopkins Hospital updated their report to reflect a 2,000-gallon uncontained spill.
“Watching the coordination that we’ve seen here has not just been important, it’s been incredibly impressive,” Moore said at a Thursday morning news conference. “I’d like to recognize all of the emergency crews, the emergency personnel from the City of Baltimore, from the state of Maryland, and also from the United States Coast Guard.”
Moore described the containment and clean-up efforts as a “robust and truly collective effort.”
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This image shows a diesel fuel spill in Baltimore on June 4, 2025.
(@MDEnvironment/X / FOX Weather)
At least 10 different city and state agencies have been deployed to help with the potentially dangerous situation, and assets from the state, local and federal level have also been mobilized.
“Emergency personnel worked through the night to help contain the situation,” Moore continued. “We have seen over 100 personnel literally work through the night to make sure that we had this situation under control and contained.”
Moore said the U.S. Coast Guard and a contractor were using oil-absorbing materials and skimmers that feed into a 4,000-gallon pump truck.
That’s in addition to the 100 personnel that worked overnight to help.
“That includes the fact that we have three skimmers out here,” Moore said. “We have six vac-trucks. We have 1,000 feet of sweep. And we have 600 feet of boom already deployed.”
This image shows a diesel fuel spill in Baltimore on June 4, 2025.
(@MDEnvironment/X / FOX Weather)
The good news, Moore said, is that there is no evidence to suggest that there has been any impact on drinking water in the area.
“We can smell gas,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said on Thursday. “Obviously, you can smell that gas. And we can see the oil on the water. We know people are understandably concerned. But, again, as you just heard, there is no impact to drinking water, and we’re doing everything we can to mitigate any environmental impacts of the spill.”
This image shows a diesel fuel spill in Baltimore on June 4, 2025.
(@MDEnvironment/X / FOX Weather)
Moore has asked residents to use alternate routes away from Harbor East to allow for emergency crews to continue to do their jobs.
“Avoiding the area will help to ensure that our emergency personnel can make sure that they can get this mission accomplished efficiently and effectively,” he said.
Scott said emergency road closures around Harbor East remain in place, and officials anticipate issues during the evening commute on Thursday.
“Officers will be on site during rush hours to help direct traffic,” Scott said. “We are encouraging drivers to avoid the area if possible. This isn’t a time to travel down here to try and look and see.”
