The Maryland Department of the Environment is investigating leaks of about 32,000 gallons of jet fuel at the Air Force’s Joint Base Andrews in Prince George’s County, officials said Monday.

The state agency ordered the Air Force to shut down the leaking sections of the base’s fueling system and conduct an emergency soil investigation to determine where the fuel has traveled. It also directed the base to drill and install monitoring wells and provide daily updates on cleanup progress, according to a news release.

“The leaking portion of the system has been isolated and shut down while contractor Clean Harbors works to clean up the site and investigate the source of the failure,” state officials said.

State environmental officials said the base’s leak detection system failed multiple times between January and March, but that the agency wasn’t apprised until “odors and a fuel sheen were observed near the headwaters of Piscataway Creek on March 23.”

The base’s contamination prevention system also failed twice in early April, when heavy rain caused a containment dam to collapse, the news release said. The base did not report the full extent of the discharge until April 8.

“While Maryland values its deep ties to federal defense installations across the state, contaminating Maryland’s land and water is unacceptable,” Serena McIlwain, secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, said in a statement. “The state and the local community deserve answers and a robust response.”

MDE said the jet fuel seeped into Piscataway Creek, which is about 4.5 miles long and flows into the Potomac River. State officials advised against swimming or wading in the creek where petroleum sheen or odor is evident, warning of skin, eye or respiratory irritation. Due to the presence of forever chemicals, the agency continues to advise against consuming largemouth and smallmouth bass and sunfish from Piscataway Creek.

Department officials said in a news release that the Air Force captured about 10,000 gallons of fuel before it reached Piscataway Creek. Thus, officials at Joint Base Andrews say only about 22,000 gallons of fuel were lost.

In a news release Monday, Joint Base Andrews said its environmental team was actively implementing mitigation measures; working with regulatory partners on steps to protect surrounding waterways and ecosystems; and coordinating with public health agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of the surrounding communities.

The Prince George’s County executive’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The leaks at Joint Base Andrews occurred around the same time that a section of the Potomac Interceptor sewage line collapsed, spilling roughly 250 million gallons of untreated wastewater and “catastrophic” levels of pollutants into the Potomac River.

After DC Water, the utility company that owns the Potomac Interceptor, diverted the sewage flow into the C&O Canal within days of the Jan. 19 collapse, officials said water quality had returned to normal by late February.

By mid-March, Montgomery County health officials had lifted some advisories for fishing, boating and other recreation in the Potomac River.