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City looking into reports of oil on Grand River

Posted at 12:59 PM, Apr 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-01 13:06:46-04

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A video going around the internet has prompted city workers to investigate the possibility of oil on the Grand River.

A video posted to Reddit on Sunday by user 'Retrocarbon' had people worried about what looked to be some sort of oil spill on the surface of the Grand River. The city was made aware of the video and sent their storm water maintenance crew to check it out Monday morning.

FOX 17 spoke to the storm water crew at the river Monday.  They tell us four employees were sent out to the river to investigate near the Fulton Street bridge.

They had two people walking on each side of the river looking for any visible signs of oil.

The crew dispatched "containment booms" out into the water to contain any potential oil.  They were unable to locate any signs of oil Monday morning. The storm water maintenance crew also spoke to those out fishing the river to ask if they had seen anything.  No one reported seeing anything out of the ordinary Monday.

The city believes the oil seen in the video was present due to runoff from the parking lots near the river.  They say it is a common occurrence during this time of the year when the snow banks in the lots melt, sending residual oils into river.