ALTOONA, Iowa– Approximately 200 gallons of diesel fuel were accidentally spilled near the Meta Data Center in Altoona earlier this month, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
“Some of the spilled fuel entered a storm drain, which leads to an on-site retention pond,” wrote Ted Petersen via email. “At the time of the incident, the retention pond’s outlet was closed, and the pond was covered in ice, effectively containing all the diesel fuel to the area where the storm drain enters the pond.”
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Petersen is a DNR Supervisor for Field Office 5. He said the agency received a “spill report” on Wednesday, December 3, 2025, at 9:36 a.m., roughly three hours after the spill happened. An Environmental Specialist from the DNR responded within two hours of being notified, at which time “cleanup operations were already in progress,” he told WHO 13’s Katie Kaplan.
The spill reportedly happened at 6:30 a.m. during routine maintenance on an on-site generator that was being serviced by Turner Construction Company. A map provided by the DNR of the spill site shows it is near the Meta Data Center compound. Turner Construction, an international construction services company that has an office in Des Moines, works on the Meta campus, according to the construction company’s website. Meta Platforms, Inc. owns and operates several prominent social media platforms and communication services, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Threads.
According to the incident report, which was obtained by a WHO 13 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, an employee was filling the generator with diesel fuel. The fuel cell was not shut off, and the employee walked away, causing the tank to overfill, states the report.
Turner Construction “immediately hired a liquid waste removal company to begin cleanup of the spilled fuel and any contaminated materials,” added Petersen.
According to the incident report, most of the fuel spilled out onto a temporary asphalt pad that the generator sits on. However, some of it ran off into a stormwater intake, which flows into the on-site retention pond. Employees reportedly used an on-site spill kit to mitigate the spill. An industrial cleaning company was called to the area to remove contaminated snow, power wash the asphalt, and suck out the stormwater pipes and any diesel on the surface of the retention pond, stated the incident report…