Cornell Police received a report this morning from a Forest Home Drive resident at 7:29 a.m. of a smell of diesel fuel and an oil slick on Beebe Lake on the Cornell campus. Personnel from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Cornell Environmental Health and Safety and the Office of Environmental Compliance, and local fire departments are on the scene.

Environmental Health and Safety has placed petroleum booms in the water in Fall Creek at the east end of Beebe Lake in an attempt to stop the spread of the contamination. Officials say some materials have gone downstream on Beebe Lake, but they have not determined how long the fuel has been in the lake.

The source of the spill appears to be upstream, east of university property, beyond where Fall Creek and Route 13 intersect, officials report. Cornell is assisting the DEC and local fire officials in the investigation of the source of the spill.