Dive Brief:

• A construction crew said it accidentally spilled 100 tons of cement into a creek in Oakland, CA, on Wednesday after leaving a valve open while replacing a pipeline in a residential neighborhood.

• East Bay Municipal Utility District crews predict they have several days of cleanup ahead of them after a subcontractor reportedly left a valve open for more than two hours on the old pipeline, which was being filled with cellular cement.

• The cement, which has the consistency of bathroom grout, clogged more than half a mile of the creek.

Dive Insight:

A utility district spokeswoman said fish and insects living in and near the creek are likely dead, and biologists are taking samples to test the water for safety. The creek flows behind a row of townhouses.

“This is not good,” the spokeswoman told local television reporters.