United States Environmental Protection Agency
Region X
POLLUTION REPORT

Subject: 

The spill area adjacent to the pipeline has been delineated.  It was calculated that 1.93 acres of tundra and frozen lake surface have been impacted.  The aerial photo at left shows the status of snow removal operations on March 13.  

The spill is contained by natural and man-made snow berms.  Containment berms are being reinforced with ice by the addition of water.  Snow and frozen conditions allow for working on the tundra and minimize damage from people, equipment, and oil contamination.

The source of the spill was determined to be one to two square inch hole in the pipeline at the 6 o'clock position, internal corrosion is the suspected cause of the hole but further investigation is ongoing.

GC2 remains shutdown, BP has applied freeze protection to approximately 230 wells and associated flow lines effected by the shutdown.

Weather: Mostly sunny with natibviksuq (Inupiat for drifting snow), itrifubaa (Inupiat for icy cold), lows about -20F, highs about -10F, anuqjiqsuq (Inupiat for windy): east winds 10-20 mph with wind chills of -40F to -55F.

EPA FOSC Jeffry Rodin and one START are on site (START personnel rotation occurred 3/14/06).

RESPONSE ACTION:  Incident response priorities and objectives are
• Ensure all personnel are safe
• Mitigate potential of further release
• Continue containment of the spill
• Remove contamination from the area
• Manage and dispose of waste appropriately

Free liquid oil continues to be recovered using vacuum equipment. Site crews have erected windbreaks around three oil recovery points to improve operations.

Removal of contaminated snow by tracked-bobcat is the other primary oil recovery method.  As of 1900 hours March 12, snow had been removed from approximately 95% of the impacted area.  Additional clean snow from uncontamininated areas is being hauled in to facilitate further absorption of oil by the snow.  Some areas of spill site have been covered with a third covering of snow.  Visible contamination of the snow has changed from black (initial snow layers) to tan (2nd and 3rd snow layers.)

The remainder of the caribou crossing gravel has been excavated to allow examination of the pipeline. Scaffolding and tenting as been installed at the caribou crossing.  Hand excavating and super-sucking is in progress to remove remainder of gravel beneath culvert to complete UT testing.  

Two containment troughs have been dug as contingency to contain and observe any movement of oil. No contamination in troughs has been observed.

A wildlife fence is being constructed around the spill site to exclude arctic fox.
  
A 24-hour cleanup operation is in effect.  A total of 60 spill responders, 30 for the day shift and 30 for the night shift, are working in the field-cleanup efforts.  

The Incident Management Team and Unified Command has is being dismantled, although agency representatives will remain on site and continue consultation as required.  The IAP cycle will shift to a 72 hour cycle - current IAP signed 3/14/06 at 1700.

Free liquid oil will continue to be recovered using vacuum equipment where possible. Removal of heavily contaminated snow is the primary oil recovery tactic at this stage of the operation.    

Operations will be bringing clean snow from outside the impacted area into the containment berms to allow for mixing with remaining snow on heavily oiled areas in an effort to remove additional oil. At the spill site, 80% of the area has been cleared of snow (including snow brought into spill area for additional oil absorption.) This area cleared of snow is ready for vegetation trimming.  Operations requested and received approval to remove the containment berms since no movement of contamination has been observed and use the snow for oil absorption.  

Additional labor for snow melting process has been requested. Snow melting may begin 3/15/06 if labor available, however, it might be delayed until snow berms dismantled and remaining snow used for absorption of oil (or until all operations utilizing snow for oil absorptions have been completed.)

The draft plan for tundra treatment of exposed, oil-contaminated tundra following removal of oil-contaminated snow has been prepared by the environmental branch.  Proposed tundra treatment includes vegetation trimming (Other options are also considered.  Included among these is flushing of a small test plot is also proposed for tundra mitigation if conditions permit.)  Comments on the draft Tundra plan have been provided by the UC.

The Unified Command has reviewed the draft tundra treatment plan. Environmental branch is in the process of revising the plan.  The treatment plan addresses the long term and final cleanup stages and the potential tactics for tundra include removal by trimming or excavation, warm water flushing, and vegetation burning.  

Environmental Branch has provided the agency representatives a draft of the Wildlife Interaction Plan for Near and Long Term for review and comment.

With extreme wind chill, ongoing site operations have been hampered for personnel safety reasons. Frostbite is a concern and BPXA is swapping crews frequently and is providing warm up shacks for workers.  Work restrictions were lifted on 3/13/06 due to favorable weather conditions, but were reinstated due to the increased wind speeds on 3/14/06, varying from 30 to 45 minutes.

A press visit arranged by BP occurred on 3/13/06. This included an interview session with UC, an overflight of the spill area and ground tours of the spill site and contaminated materials collections areas.

All waste is being handled according to the approved waste handling plan.  Recovered fluids are transported offsite by vacuum trucks to Flow Station 2 (FS-2) and offloaded into a 10,000 barrel (bbl) tank.  Soils in the caribou crossing area are being tested for contamination.  Contaminated gravel is transported to a containment area on Drill Site 4 for subsequent testing and disposal.  Contaminated snow and ice are being stockpiled at the CC-2A facility.  A snow melter will be installed at CC-2A, and melted fluids will be taken to the FS-2 tank for measurement. Oiled debris (e.g., PPE) is being contained in a dumpster for subsequent offsite disposal.