POLLUTION/SITUATION REPORT
Warm Springs Tanker Spill - Removal Polrep
Initial and Final Removal Polrep
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Region X
Initial and Final Polrep
Warm Springs Tanker Spill
Z0DK
near Warm Springs, OR
Latitude: 44.8923383 Longitude: -121.3825576
| 1. Introduction | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1.1 Background |
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1.1.1 Incident Category OPA/CERCLA Emergency Response 1.1.2 Site Description On the evening of September 24, 2013, EPA received a report that a tractor trailer truck combination of two trailers loaded with unleaded gasoline and diesel fuel rolled over at milepost 81.5 northwest of Warm Springs, Oregon on U.S. Highway 26. The spill area occurred on the property of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs. During the rollover, the trailer connected to the tractor became disconnected and was damaged. It was reported to have released its contents of 3500 gallons of unleaded gasoline and 1500 gallons of diesel fuel from multiple compartments within the trailer. The second trailer also became disconnected and overturned but was not damaged enough to cause significant loss of its contents. SMAF Environmental (SMAF), the clean-up contractor for the trucking company, responded to pump off the product in the second tanker and assess the site. This required the complete closure of the highway from the evening of September 24 through approximately 0800 hours on the following day. EPA deployed OSC Kathy Parker along with three START contractors from the Seattle office and one START contractor from the Portland, office. The Portland START contractor drove an EPA response vehicle and arrived at the accident scene at 0325 hours on September 25 and was present as the tanker trailer was being off-loaded during the removal of the damaged trailer and tractor. The Seattle START contractors arrived at the accident scene at 0745 hours on September 25 with an EPA Response Vehicle and a trailer for equipment as the last tanker was being towed away. The EPA OSC arrived at 9:20 am after the highway had been re-opened. The truck rollover site is located adjacent to U.S. Highway 26 at milepost 81.5, Jefferson County, approximately 21.3 miles northwest of Warm Springs, Oregon. The roadway is a two lane highway in a forested rural area and the release of product was on the north side of the highway on the right-of-way. Beaver Creek is located approximately 1500 feet to the north and flows parallel to the highway. The land in between the highway and the creek is a relatively flat forested area. Beaver Creek flows into the Warms Springs River that drains into the Deschutes River, which in turn drains into the Columbia River. EPA mobilized to address the potential of public exposure to vapors from the released gasoline and diesel fuel, to assess the potential threat to Beaver Creek, and to assist the Tribes. The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Spring expressed concern of released product migrating into Beaver Creek which is an important fish habitat. They operate a hatchery that could be affected by contamination of Beaver Creek. It was determined that the loss of product from the truck into the soil presented immediate potential risks from the vapors to the public traveling on U. S. Highway 26. However, the primary concern was the presence of free product that could potentially migrate into Beaver Creek. The site Unified Command agreed that the spill area should be excavated immediately to determine the location and direction of migrating fuel as well as to determine the depth to groundwater. The pathway of fuel would be used to guide the remaining excavation. |
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| 2. Current Activities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2.1 Operations Section | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2.1.1 Narrative Early in the morning of September 25, 2013, EPA and START contractors mobilized to the site at the request of the Tribes to document site activities, provide air monitoring support during the off-loading of product, and participate in Unified Command. After the removal of the tractor and trailers, the road was re-opened. For safety reasons and improved logistics, SMAF, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), Tribal responders, and EPA/START established a command post and staging area 2.1 miles SE on Highway 26 to an enclosed ODOT road maintenance yard. This location remained the command post for the duration of the response while EPA was on-site. The OSC directed START and Unified Command directed Terry Sprecher with Sprecher Group, an environmental consultant for SMAF, to collect two background and four targeted soil samples along the highway right-of-way prior to excavation of contaminated soil. With the help of SMAF flaggers for traffic control, the sampling was completed by midafternoon on September 25. With supplies from EPA, Sprecher also collected five background soil samples from a nearby site that had been identified for stockpiling contaminated soil excavated from the spill area. This location is 0.2 miles off of US Highway 26, SE of the spill site between the highway and Beaver Creek. The distance from the spill site and the stockpile location is approximately one mile. All of the soil samples were processed at the command post. Starting in the afternoon, SMAF crews began excavation of contaminated soil from the spill area. The soil was placed in trucks and transported to the off-site location selected and sampled earlier in the day. A protective barrier was placed on the ground before the contaminated soil was stockpiled. Another SMAF crew placed 6-inch hard boom across Beaver Creek just downsteam from the stockpile location. Sausage absorbent boom was placed up stream adjacent to the 6 inch boom as a preventive measure. SMAF deployed shoreline characterization and assessment teams (SCAT) to walk along Beaver Creek and record physical signs of fuel entering the creek. The EPA OSC and START project manager attended a 1600 hours planning meeting with SMAF and other unified command and cooperating agencies to discuss the plan for the next operational period. On September 26 at 0700 hours, EPA arrived at the SMAF command post to attend an all-hands safety briefing and to review the scope of work for the day. START and Sprecher collected two surface water samples from Beaver Creek. As a background sample, one surface water sample was collected up-stream from the site. The second surface water sample was taken in front of the 6-inch boom that had been placed on Beaver Creek. With the assistance of Mike Renz from Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ), the SMAF excavation crew excavated one exploratory pit between the highway and Beaver Creek to determine the depth to groundwater and possibly identify the presence of fuel. The depth to groundwater was approximately 10 feet below ground surface (bgs) which indicated that the Beaver Creek was likely a losing stream. SMAF continued excavating soil from the around the spill site. As of the evening of September 26 the excavation pit was 56 x 45 x 11 feet with the excavation moving southward. Approximately 1,000 yards of contaminated soil had been stockpiled and the Tribe granted permission to enlarge the stockpile area as needed to accommodate excavated soil. Approximately 1,900 gallons of suspected contaminated water was pumped from the excavation for product recovery. The two surface water samples collected on September 26 were reported to be clean by the laboratory used by the RP. 2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) 2.1.4 Progress Metrics
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2.2 Planning Section |
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2.2.1 Anticipated Activities The soil from the spill area will be excavated and stockpiled off-site. The soil in the stockpiles will be rotated to help with the valorization of the product. At some point in the future the soil will be transported for disposal to an acceptable facility (ORRCO Portland and Crook County) and any groundwater accumulating in the excavation pit will be pumped into a vacuum truck for delivery to a product recovery facility. The forested area west and south of the spill area will be grubbed to allow the heavy equipment to access the areas identified for excavation. Salvageable trees will be set aside by CTWS Forestry for processing at the Tribe lumber mill. ODEQ will provide expert advice for this operation with agreement from the Tribe and EPA will remain accessible to the Tribe for additional assistance. 2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities With the help of Tribal facilities, surface water samples will be collected by Sprecher on a daily schedule to establish whether Beaver Creek has been impacted by the release. Confirmation soil samples from the sidewalls and floor of the excavation will be collected by Specher and analyzed at their lab prior to back filling. The Tribe requested assistance from EPA in collecting and analyzing split samples of both surface water and soil. 2.2.1.2 Next Steps 2.2.2 Issues |
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2.3 Logistics Section |
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No information available at this time. |
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2.4 Finance Section |
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No information available at this time. |
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2.5 Other Command Staff |
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2.5.1 Safety Officer Lindsey Weniick, SMAF Environmental 2.5.2 Liaison Officer 2.5.3 Information Officer Clay Penhall, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Public Information Officer |
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| 3. Participating Entities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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3.1 Unified Command RP: Clint Monchamp, Central Petro Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs: Richard Craig EPA OSC: Kathy Parker 3.2 Cooperating Agencies ODOT: Mike Darling ODEQ: Mike Renz |
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| 4. Personnel On Site | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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OPS: Scott Porfily, SMAF Planning: Kim Kichenmaster, SMAF Logistics: Mel Davis RP Project Manager: Tom Kichenmaster, SMAF RP Environmental Officer: Terry Sprecher, Sprecher Group (contracted to SMAF) |
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| 5. Definition of Terms | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No information available at this time. |
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| 6. Additional sources of information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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6.1 Internet location of additional information/report 6.2 Reporting Schedule The clean-up response by the RP is ongoing and expected to take several weeks to months. EPA will continue to collect and analyze split samples for the Tribes until excavation is completed. This is the final Polrep for EPA's participation in the response. Results of sampling and any additional activities of note will be reported in a Special Polrep. |
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| 7. Situational Reference Materials | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No information available at this time. |
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