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The EEOT Pipeline Oil Spill site is located next to 60th Avenue (referred to by locals as “Beaver Blacktop Road”), which runs north from Beaver, Kansas, to the Russell/Barton County Road. The spill location is a few miles north of Beaver in Barton County. The section is SE 8, the range is 12 West, and the township is 16 South. The terrain is range with gentle slopes. The spill is 20 to 30 miles southeast of Russell, Kansas, which is located in central Kansas along I-70 Highway. The leak occurred in a 3-inch transmission line. The leak possibly occurred due to corrosion since it is located less than 35 feet from a currently dry, intermittent stream. This stream flows in a northerly direction and eventually feeds Beaver Creek. A check valve on the 3-inch line, which prevented the back flow of oil from a nearby 6-inch main line, failed. The dysfunctional check valve caused oil from the main line to flow back into the 3-inch line. This oil released through the break in the 3-inch line and followed the path of least resistance, which was a nearby dry stream. The area is very remote, and the primary land use is farming. There are no trees or homes nearby, only oil production wells, gathering lines, and tank batteries. The affected area along the creek is between 0.3 to 0.5 miles in length along the dry stream bed that averages 5 feet in width and 1 foot in depth (per the estimation and recollection of the On-Scene Coordinator). The Cheyenne Bottoms Reservoir is about seven miles south of the impacted area, and is up-gradient.
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