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As of March 1, 2009, Mid Valley Pipeline/Sunoco Logistics continue to take response actions to contain and recover oil released to the Rocky Ford and Middle Branch Portage River from a pipeline break.
Approximately 1" of rain fell from February 25-26. As a result, the water in the Rocky Ford River and the Middle Branch Portage River rose approximately 6' within 24 hours. Most of the boom locations were breached and a visible sheen was observed as far downstream as Woodville. A preventative boom was place downstream of Elmore, OH in a continuing effort to protect the water intake in Lake Erie.
In response to the rising water and fast current the majority of bank remediation crews were pulled for safety concerns. The current in the waterways was reported to increase from 200 cu. ft/sec. to 574 cu ft./sec. after the rainfall. In areas were the crews could work safely, boom was maintained and debris was recovered.
The morning of Saturday, February 28, 2009, crews were deployed to assess the status of the boom. Contaminated absorbent booms were removed and replaced with clean absorbent booms and snares. The containment boom locations that were non-functioning were removed.
Soil Remediation Activities: All of the underflow dams held through the rain event, and the product accumulated was collected in a vac truck.
The tile that had the release of a gasoline product and water is continuing to be monitored and vacuumed out at needed. The product collected is believed to be from a historical release. from another pipeline located in the area. A potentially responsible party is working with Mid-Valley/Sunoco to determine if the product is from their pipeline. The PRP has collected samples with the Mid-Valley/Sunoco contractor to determine the source.
The night operations have decreased to a minimum for monitoring and minimal recovery. START personnel have been relieved from night operations.
Sunoco received a discharge permit from OEPA to discharge water following treatment through a carbon filtration system. The water will be sampled following treatment, if within the permit limits, water will be discharged in to the storm sewer drain.
On March 1, 2009, Mid Valley Pipeline/Sunoco Logistics began transitioning their response efforts from the IMT to a project management team to manage the operations for the long term remedial efforts. To date, 782 barrels of crude oil have been recovered. This includes the oil collected on the waterway as well as the drain tile and soil excavation activities.
US EPA and OEPA are transitioning to project oversight. A status evaluation will be conducted on Monday, March 2 to review the maintenance activities related to the waterways. OEPA intends to oversee the soil remediation activities.
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