Polution Situation Report

U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
POLLUTION/SITUATION REPORT
TIN Pearl River Spill - LA - Removal Polrep

EPA Emergency Response

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Region VI

Subject:

POLREP #3
Joint EPA Regions 4 and 6
TIN Pearl River Spill - LA

Bogalusa, LA
Latitude: 30.7763940 Longitude: -89.8552780

To:

From:

John Martin, OSC

Date:

8/22/2011

Reporting Period:

08/19/2011 - 08/21/2011

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

Site Number:	R4:B4L4 & R6:A6BX	Contract Number:
D.O. Number:		Action Memo Date:
Response Authority:	CERCLA	Response Type:	Emergency
Response Lead:		Incident Category:	Removal Assessment
NPL Status:	Non NPL	Operable Unit:
Mobilization Date:	8/14/2011	Start Date:	8/15/2011
Demob Date:	8/20/2011	Completion Date:
CERCLIS ID:		RCRIS ID:
ERNS No.:	R6:985947 R4:985947	State Notification:	YES
FPN#:		Reimbursable Account #:

1.1.1 Incident Category: Emergency Response

1.1.2 Site Description: Pearl River system impacted by discharge from the Temple-Inland Bogalusa Paperboard Mill (TIN, Inc.) facility.

1.1.2.1 Location: Pearl River System from Bogalusa, LA south to the Rigolets deepwater pass via the West Pearl River and the border between Louisiana and Mississippi via the East Pearl River.

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat: A very large fish kill was observed including other aquatic animals death or stressed.

1.1.3 Preliminary Removal Assessment/Removal Site Inspection Results: On 08/09/2011, a paper mill located in Bogalusa, La released black pulp liquor intthe Pearl River. After receiving notification from a local media station, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) responded on 08/13/2011 to investigate the incident. They observed numerous dead fish as well as foam and a dark brown/black discoloration of the river.

2. Current Activities

2.1 Operations Section

2.1.1 Narrative: On Tuesday, 08/09/2011, a paper mill located in Bogalusa, LA, began releasing Black Liquor into the Pearl River. On Saturday, 08/13/2011, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) responded to the incident after receiving notification from a local media station. Not knowing the source or the cause, they began water quality monitoring of the Pearl River and they observed a very large number of dead fish as well as a foam material and a dark brown/black discoloration of the river. They traced to source of the release to the Temple-Inland Paper Mill in Bogalusa, LA. Also on 08/13/2011, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) assessed the Pearl River for a fish kill after receiving a NRC report submitted by a private individual.

On Sunday, 08/14/2011, MDEQ contacted EPA Region 4 Duty Officer and requested their assistance. The EPA Region 4 Duty Officer then contacted the EPA Region 6 Duty Officer to relay the information since the Pearl River runs along the state line between Louisiana and Mississippi. Two Region 4 OSCs with START support were deployed to assist MDEQ at their request with response and coordination. One Region 6 OSC with START support was deployed to the Louisiana side to coordinate with LDEQ.

From the source of the release in Bogalusa to where the West Pearl River enters the next major waterway, the Rigolets - a deepwater tidal pass, is approximately 45 miles due south; river miles are many, many more miles. The Pearl River divides and combines with many smaller water bodies including the West Pearl River and the East Pearl River, which provides the state boundary between Louisiana and Mississippi. The vast majority of the Black Liquor plume traveled through the West Pearl River in Louisiana. Furthermore, the Pearl River system traverses through the Bogue Chitto National Wildlife Refuge and the Pearl River State Wildlife Management Area.

The R6 OSC demobilized Friday, 08/19/2011 and the remaining R4 OSC and START demobilized Saturday, 08/20/2011.

2.1.2 Multi-Agency/State Coordination Call:

8/19/11 1100 MEETING SUMMARY

Multi Agency/State coordination call participants:

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality

Mississippi Department of Wildlife

Mississippi Department of Health

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality

Louisiana Department of Health

Louisiana Poison Control Center

City of New Orleans EMA

Fish and Wildlife Service

Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

EPA Regions 4 and 6

8/19/2011 Conference Call notes:

· LDEQ reported that monitoring continues and water quality is returning to normal. There are some trapped dark water in tributaries and sloughs. No VOCs were detected and more sample results will arrive today. LDEQ is evaluating facility's plan to restart.

· According to preliminary data obtained by EPA R4, there were no exceedences for VOCs, SVOCs, metals, and phenols. However, there were DDT and DDE exceedances for Drinking Water Removal Action Level for Surface Water in background and impacted sampling areas.

· MDEQ reported that the river at Bogalusa will crest to 9.3 feet on Monday due to water being released from Ross Barnett Reservoir. EPA R4 is transitioning monitoring the river to MDEQ. MDEQ plans to continue monitoring through weekend. MS citizens have complained of the facility not collecting the dead fish. However, facility is focused on high concentration area in the West Pearl River.

· Louisiana Poison Control reported one swimmer in river had a rash. It was unclear if the person's rash was caused by spill.

· FWS reported 23 Gulf Sturgeons have been collected to date. A few reports of other dead Sturgeons have yet to be confirmed.

· Several pertinent documents and fact sheet have been posted on EPA R6 website.

2.2 Planning Section

2.2.1 Anticipated Activities: Assessment and investigation activites are nearing completion. LDEQ continues to be the lead Agency. EPA will be assessing ongoing needs on Monday 08/22/2011 and will host the inter-agency coordination call on Tuesday, 08/23/2011. R4 and R6 OSCs plan to attend the follow-up Town meeting in Walkiah Bluff, MS, on Thursday evening, 08/25/2011. Next coordination conference call will be held on Tuesday at 1100 hours EST

2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities: Temple-Inland and several Louisiana state agencies will conduct further sampling including water, private water well, sediment, wildlife and seafood. These sampling efforts will continue as needed and will end when determined by the State. Surveys will be conducted to verify the effectiveness of collection activities will begin on Monday.

2.2.1.2 Next Steps: Preliminary data has arrived as MDEQ and LDEQ have been requested to provide their respective screening levels to be include in the data table for reference. EPA Region 4 and 6 will coordinate compiling both the MDEQ and the LDEQ into one KMZ file. Interpretation and evaluation of the data will determine what and if any, other clean-up and enforcement activities are necessary.

2.2.2 Issues: Incident occured on the Pearl River, which is on the border of two states of two EPA regions involving numerous state and federal agencies. Communities in Louisiana and Mississippi have been impacted and the media interest has been high. Numerous citizens utilize the Pearl River System for recreation and livelihood. Several Louisiana state agencies set up incident command posts together in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes for public information centers. EPA R4 and R6 along with MDEQ attended a town meeting near the Walkiah Bluff community in Mississippi.

2.3 Logistics Section