The Thermo Fluids facility, at 6400 SE 101st Avenue, conducts waste oil recycling. A main operations building that contained a waste oil pit with a capacity of nearly 37,000 gallons ignited the morning of March 15, 2004, and quickly engulfed the building despite the efforts of over 140 firefighters that responded to the four-alarm fire. Water that was poured onto the fire to contain its spread overwhelmed the industrial property's oil and water separator unit and spread waste oil and other potential hazardous chemicals into an adjacent drainage ditch. The drainage ditch flows directly into Johnson Creek (within a 1/4 mile) which, in turn, flows into the Willamette River.
EPA and START mobilized to the site early in the afternoon on March 15, after being requested by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) for assistance. At this time, the fire had been burning for over 6 hours and fire crews were continuing to douse the flames with approximately 1,500 gallons of water per minute from several ladder trucks. Although the fire appeared to be contained, clouds of steam and smoke continued to rise from the building shell. Fire crews from Portland, Gresham, and Clackamas were still present at the site.
Water generated from the firefighting efforts was flowing into a nearby drainage ditch which had a visible sheen. Several sorbent booms had been placed across the liquid filled ditch (~15-20 feet wide) in an attempt to contain the gross amounts of floating oil and debris. In addition, a coffer dam had been constructed near the east end of the ditch to allow the soluble component of the liquid to pass through pipes placed at the base of the dam. Liquid from beneath the surface was also being pumped around the dam so that it would not overflow. Oil was skimmed from the surface of the drainage ditch (upstream of the dam) by operators and sucked into vacuum trucks.
It is apparent (based on a strong petroleum odor and a visual frothy emulsion) that some oil as well as water soluble contaminants were flowing into Johnson Creek.
At the operation meeting at 1800 hours, the USFW representative reported that he had conducted a visual assessment of Johnson Creek with the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) and they had estimated that a fish kill numbering approximately 3,000 had occurred due to the release of the oil and other contaminants from the site. They had traveled approximately 6 river miles from the site to SE 42nd and Johnson Creek and had noticed the influx of sediments and turbidity as the overflow impacted those areas.
ODEQ has collected four water samples in Johnson Creek (including upstream background), one at the outfall into Johnson Creek, and one source oil sample. The stream samples will be analyzed for metals, dissolved metals, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs), and volatiles(VOCs). The source sample will also be analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and oil and grease.
The RP has hired NRC Environmental Services to asssist with the cleanup effort. NRC had originally been mobilized to the site by the ODEQ.
NRC plans to place additional boom in the drainage ditch (including hard boom), as well as deploy a portable oil skimmer to collect the bulk of the remaining oil in the ditch. These activities will continue overnight.
Contaminants will also continue to be pumped into the on-site vacuum trucks and stationary Baker holding tanks.
A detailed inventory of products and wastes affected by the fire needs to be provided (this will include the development of a mass balance model to predict the amount of material recovered).
Site security will be retained by either Thermo Fluids or the site owner, Freeway Lands.
A Site Sampling Plan will be developed by the RP in conjunction with regulatory authorities. This may include water sampling, sediment sampling, and soil sampling (along the banks of the stream).
A site specific Health and Safety plan will be developed by the RP for approval by the Incident Command.
The potential for upcoming rain events to compromise remaining chemicals and oil within the facility necessitate the development of a plan to handle such an overflow from the building.
A disposal plan must be developed to track the wastes generated at the site and the final disposition of such wastes.
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