Diesel Spill and Goose Rescue Mission

In the late 1970s I was a member of a student group affiliated with the UO Survival Center. We were there one day when we learned there had been a diesel spill into the Millrace, and volunteers were needed to rescue as many ducks and geese as possible. We quickly found ourselves in a flurry of activity in the backyard area behind the Greek houses along East 11th, where residents of those houses and other volunteers were bringing in oiled waterfowl to be washed and rinsed and taken out to Green Hill for additional care. We learned that Dawn works well on diesel, and that geese like to be air-dried with hair dryers. We did have to throw away the clothes we were wearing, however.