Background:

EPA responded to the incident between March 25-26 to ensure Denbury Resources was taking the appropriate actions to clean up oil from Horsepen Bayou, to prevent oil from migrating further along the waterway, and to prevent additional oil from making entry into Horsepen Bayou. While on site between March 25-26, EPA determined Denbury Resources was undertaking an appropriate response. EPA remotely received daily updates from Denbury Resources between March 27-April 2 and maintained frequent communications with other responding agencies to ensure Denbury Resources continued to undertake an appropriate response. 

Denbury Resources informed EPA on April 2 that they had recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou so EPA returned to the site on April 4 to conduct a site inspection to verify Denbury Resources' claim. During the April 4 inspection,  EPA observed that recoverable oil remained in several areas in Horsepen Bayou. EPA instructed Denbury Resources to continue recovering oil in these areas and to continue maintaining the containment and collection points until  as much oil as possible is recovered. 

Between April 5-16 Denbury Resources continued recovering oil in Horsepen Bayou and EPA remotely received daily updates from Denbury Resources and maintained frequent communications with other responding agencies to ensure Denbury Resources continued to undertake an appropriate response. On April 12, Denbury Resources informed EPA that they had recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou. EPA returned to the site on April 16 to conduct a site inspection to re-verify that Denbury Resources had recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou and to ensure that the threat of any remaining oil at Denbury’s facility making entry into the Bayou had been mitigated.

Final Site Inspection Summary:

EPA walked the entire spill pathway in Horsepen Bayou from the Denbury Resources facility to Space Center Blvd. Staff from the Texas Railroad Commission, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and City of Houston also participated in EPA's site inspection. Denbury Resources still had few booming locations established along Horsepen Bayou. The booming locations were still being used as containment and collection points for oil to accumulate and be recovered. EPA observed that there were a few areas between Denbury Resources facility and Space Center Blvd that had a minor sheen but  there were no areas with significant accumulation of oil product. EPA observed that Denbury Resources was continuing to remediate soils within their facility. Denbury Resources had constructed earthen berms between Horsepen Bayou and the facility  which were adequate measures to prevent any remaining oil in Denbury’s facility from making entry into the Bayou in case of a rain event. EPA determined that Denbury Resources had recovered as much possible oil from Horsepen and had mitigated the threat of any additional oil from making entry into the Bayou through the construction of several earthen berms within their facility.

Planned Activities:

There are no further planned EPA response activities. Denbury Resources will continue to remediate soils on their property and  maintain the containment and collection points along Horsepen Bayou. The Texas Railroad Commission will continue overseeing Denbury’s remediation efforts until contaminant levels in soils at Denbury Resources facility are below state regulatory standards. Recent surface water sampling in Horsepen Bayou shows that contaminant levels in Horsepen Bayou are below state regulatory standards. The Texas Parks and Wildlife will continue to work with Denbury Resources to investigate ecological impacts and conduct mitigation efforts, as appropriate. 

Background:

EPA responded to the incident between March 25-26 to ensure Denbury Resources was taking the appropriate actions to clean up oil from Horsepen Bayou, to prevent oil from migrating further along the waterway, and to prevent additional oil from making entry into Horsepen Bayou. While on site between March 25-26, EPA determined Denbury Resources was undertaking an appropriate response. EPA remotely received daily updates from Denbury Resources between March 27-April 3 and maintained frequent communications with other responding agencies to ensure Denbury Resources continued to undertake an appropriate response. Denbury Resources informed EPA on April 2 that they had recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou. EPA returned to the site on April 4 to conduct a site inspection to verify that Denbury Resources had recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou and to ensure that the threat of any remaining oil at Denbury’s facility making entry into the Bayou had been mitigated.

Site Inspection Summary:

EPA walked the entire spill pathway in Horsepen Bayou from the Denbury Resources facility to Space Center Blvd. Staff from the Texas Parks and Wildlife and City of Houston also participated in EPA's site inspection. EPA observed that Denbury Resources still had several booming locations established along Horsepen Bayou. The booming locations were still being used as containment/collection points for oil to accumulate and be recovered. EPA observed that recoverable oil remained in a few of these areas between Sylvan Rodriguez Park and and Space Center Blvd. EPA instructed Denbury Resources to recover the oil in these areas and to continue maintaining the containment/collection points until  as much oil as possible is recovered. EPA also observed that Denbury was continuing to clean-up oil within their facility. Denbury Resources constructed several earthen berms between Horsepen Bayou and the facility  which are adequate measures to prevent any remaining oil in Denbury’s facility from making entry into the Bayou in case of a rain event.

Planned Activities:

EPA will continue to receive updates from Denbury Resources and other agencies. Denbury Resources will inform EPA when they believe they've recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou. At that time, EPA will return to the site again to conduct a site inspection to verify that Denbury Resources has recovered as much oil as possible from Horsepen Bayou and to ensure that the threat of any remaining oil at Denbury’s facility making entry into the Bayou had been mitigated.

The Texas Railroad Commission will continue overseeing Denbury’s clean-up efforts until contaminant levels in surface waters and soils are below state regulatory standards. The Texas Railroad Commission can also direct Denbury Resources to sample groundwater if necessary. The Texas Parks and Wildlife is still investigating the ecological impacts from this spill. 204 fish, 2 soft shell turtles, 2 unidentified amphibians, 1 frog, and 1 owl have likely perished due to impacts from this spill. The Texas Parks and Wildlife will continue to work with Denbury Resources’ wildlife response contractor to investigate ecological impacts and conduct mitigation efforts, as appropriate. 

March 27 Update on Denbury Resources (Responsible Party or RP), EPA, and Other Agency Response Efforts:

The Responsible Party (RP) continues to recover oil from it facility and in several oil containment/collection locations along Horsepen Bayou. Oil is being recovered from these locations with drum skimmers, vacuum trucks, and absorbent pads. EPA has not observed free standing oil past the intersection of Horsepen Bayou and Space Center Blvd, which is the RP's furthest containment and collection point. The RP estimates that 40 barrels of crude oil and 2000 barrels of saltwater released from their facility and EPA estimates that 10-15 barrels of crude oil made entry into Horsepen Bayou. An estimate of the amount of saltwater that made entry into Horsepen Bayou is currently unknown. Around 1115 barrels of fluids consisting of crude oil, salt water, water from Horsepen Bayou, and rainwater has been recovered so far. According to the RP, most of the recovered fluids are salt water, but the exact ratio of recovered fluid constituents is unknown. As of March 26, EPA estimates that 1-2 barrels of crude oil remains in Horsepen Bayou. The RP has constructed an earthen berm on the drainage pathway between the facility and Horsepen Bayou in an effort to prevent additional fluids from running off into the bayou in case there is a rain event.

Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) and the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) are also responding to the incident. The TRC directed Denbury Resources to conduct sampling in Horsepen Bayou to better understand how the saltwater which was released into the bayou has affected its salinity. The current salinity of Horsepen Bayou exceeds the TRC acceptable limit, so they will continue to provide oversight of Denbury Resource’s efforts to address saltwater impacts.

The TPW is also responding to this incident and is working with Denbury Resource’s wildlife response contractor to install hazing flags along Horsepen Bayou to deter birds away from the heavily impacted portions of the Bayou, as well as collect dead fish to prevent wildlife from consuming and being attracted to the spill area. Several fish, two unidentified amphibians, one owl, and one softshell turtle have perished due to impacts from this spill.

Planned activities:

The RP will continue recovery operations at the facility and at the various containment and collection points along Horsepen Bayou on a 24-hour basis until deemed appropriate. EPA will continue to remotely provide oversight of the RP's oil response efforts and will receive daily updates from the RP, TPW, and TRC. EPA will return to the site to conduct a final site inspection once all recoverable oil has been collected. The purpose of EPA's final site inspection will be to verify that the RP has collected all recoverable oil from Horsepen Bayou and has mitigated the threat of additional oil making entry into Horsepen Bayou. The TPW and TRC will continue to remain on-site. The TPW will provide oversight of the RP's wildlife response efforts, and the TRC will provide oversight of the RP's oil/saltwater response and remediation efforts.

Key issues:

There are no issues to report.

March 25 Update on Denbury Resources (Responsible Party or RP) and EPA Response Efforts:

The Responsible Party (RP) stopped the flow of fluids from the facility into Horsepen Bayou during the morning of March 25 and is continuing to recover fluids from its facility’s secondary containment with vacuum trucks. The RP deployed absorbent and hard boom in several locations along Horsepen Bayou and is recovering oil from these locations with drum skimmers, vacuum trucks, and absorbent pads. EPA observed free standing oil as far as the intersection of Horsepen Bayou and Space Center Blvd which is the RP's furthest containment and collection point (around 2 miles away from the facility). No oil was observed past this point. Around 880 barrels of fluids consisting of crude oil, salt water, water from Horsepen Bayou, and rainwater has been recovered so far. According to the RP, most of the recovered fluids are salt water but the exact ratio of recovered fluid constituents is unknown. EPA estimates that up to 5 barrels of crude oil remains in Horsepen Bayou as of March 25. Around 10 dead fish and crawfish have been observed. After observing dead fish in the bayou, the Texas Parks and Wildlife requested for wildlife recovery personnel to be on site for recovery of the dead fish and any other wildlife impacts.  

EPA conducted community air monitoring for contaminants commonly found in crude oil such as benzene. EPA did not observe levels of contaminants in nearby communities above site specific action levels. The RP also hired a contractor to conduct community air monitoring. No readings above site specific action levels have been detected by the RP's contractor.

Planned activities:

The RP will continue recovery operations at the facility and at the various containment and collection points along the spill pathway on a 24-hour basis until deemed appropriate. The RP will also begin water flushing operations in Horsepen Bayou on March 26. EPA will return to the site on the afternoon of March 26 to document the RP’s clean-up progress.

Key issues:

There are no issues to report.