Johns Hopkins Hospital Must Put 31 Safety Tasks In Place After Fuel Spill, Reports Indicate

By WBAL
Posted on 08/17/25 | News Source: WBAL

Baltimore, MD - Aug. 17, 2025 - State documents obtained detail the timeline of the Johns Hopkins Hospital diesel fuel spill.

The documents also reveal new safety measures the hospital must now put in place. The investigation into the spill is still ongoing, reports indicate.

Some of the seven state reports reveal concerns about equipment, a lack of documentation and mandated preventive measures that still aren’t fully in place.

According to the documents, the hospital asked Shipley Energy Transport, LLC to deliver 7,000 gallons of diesel fuel to one tank, and 7,000 gallons to another. The tank field cannot be seen from the location of the fill area.

One report shows the hospital did not have a tank gauge stick onsite to verify readings of the tank, which can hold 20,000.

Some 5,000* gallons of diesel fuel spilled on June 4 into Baltimore’s harbor in Harbor East.
 
Johns Hopkins Hospital reported that a third-party vendor was delivering fuel and there was an overflow at its East Baltimore facility. The state, city and U.S. Coast Guard coordinated a response to the spill that involved more than 100 people who worked through the night in an effort to contain and clean up the spill.
 
Crews deployed a boom and skimmed the heating oil product off the water, Baltimore City Fire Chief James Wallace said. They also started flushing the storm drain system to push the product to the harbor in order to capture it.
 
Wildlife was also affected by the fuel spill as Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials worked to ensure animals got the care they need.
(* Hopkins revised the initial estimate of the fuel overflow to about 5,000 gallons. In the same statement, Hopkins said it is handling the costs for the environmental remediation.)