On August 10, 2008, an oil pipeline failure occurred releasing an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 barrels of Mississippi Sweet Crude Oil in the early morning sometime before 7:30 am. Marathon Pipeline called the National Response Center to report the release. The release is located in a rural area 6 miles east of Fairfield, Illinois in Wayne County. The release area is situated in an open field with some trees surrounding it. Elm Creek and various drainage ditches are located to the southwest and southeast. Elm Creek drains into the Little Wabash River. A slough area and woods are to the east and a cornfield is situated just beyond that. County road 1100 North is to the north and soybean fields beyond that. There are no residences located near the release site, nor within the affected area.
• As of 0700 CST on 15 August 2008, 1835 bbls or approximately 77,070 gallons of oil have been recovered.
• Two more access points to the oil-filled creek beds have been established. Rock was laid and vacuum trucks have been placed at the newest access points.
• Twenty-six (26) vacuum trucks are currently on-site and six more are expected for a total of 32.
• Over 300 personnel are on-site to assist with clean-up operations (approximately 90 Marathon employees and over 220 contractor personnel).
• The 24-hour cleanup operations in the wooded area is now limited to 12-hour day time operations.
• The pipeline repair is complete and flow return on August 13, 2008.
• It is estimated that 5,000 linear feet of the old Elm Creek channel has been affected by the release.
• Crews continue to perform recovery operations within the Elm Creek water system. The oil that remains on the Elm Creek banks is sprayed with water thereby washing the oil into the creek. The oil is then pushed to collection points with leaf blowers.
• All the oil/water collected is being transported to the Marathon Pipeline facility in Albion or Robinson, IL.
• Three underflow dams were constructed downstream just past the booms that were initially setup.
• The impacted soil is excavated and disposed of at the Wayne County Landfill. Approximately 950 tons of oil contaminated soil has been disposed of off site. Approximately 450 tons of clean fill has been placed on site.
• Contaminated debris is currently staged for off-site disposal.
• The Natural Resource Trustees (USFW and Illinois DNR) were on-site starting on August 13, 2008 to perform the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and evaluate long term remediation options.
• The water intake for the city of Fairfield was boomed as a contingency
• Interceptor trenches have been dug near the release locations to evaluate for subsurface oil migration
• The clean-up is still in the emergency response phase as free product is being recovered, but a separate team is simultaneously considering the long term recovery plan.
• Surface water sampling and contaminated soil removal will continue.
• The Natural Resource Trustee (USFW) will be on-site starting on August 20, 2008 to continue the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process and evaluate long term remediation options.
• Efficient and timely removal of crude oil
• Ensuring the crude is contained in the event of eventual rain
• Ensure the backup contingency underflow dams are maintained
|
