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OSC David Dorian responded on December 24 to a release of 25 to 50 barrels of crude oil from the Hughes Eastern Corp North Blowhorn Creek Unit on-shore oil production facility. The oil, combined with stormwater, flowed along a ditch (first SE Big Hill Road, then NW on Seed Tick Road) that connects via a culvert to an unnamed tributary of Little Yellow Creek. The Responsible Party (RP) stopped flow from the production well, excavated the damaged pipeline, and used a vac-truck to remove the pooled oil. A series of dams, in combination with sorbent boom, were installed along the ditch and the unnamed tributary. ADEM emergency response was on-scene soon after the spill.
A failed union in a 2-inch pipeline that runs from production well to the oil-water separator caused the spill of crude. Well "31 Number 2", which produces 6 to 8 barrels per day, fed the breached pipeline. Hughes Eastern's Lead Pumper first noticed the spill at approximately 8:00 AM in the ditch that follows Seed Tick Road The facility cut supply to pipeline and excavated the pipeline. Further investigation indicated that the pipe threads had corroded.
The Hughes Eastern North Blowhorn Creek Unit, located in Beaverton, Alabama (Lamar County) consists of 23 pumping oil wells and 18 injection wells, utilizing a central gathering and storage facility. The facility has six manifold test stations with a 210 bbl tank used for test procedures.
Fresh or salt water is transmitted to the injection wells. Produced oil and saltwater are transmitted to two (2) treaters at the central facility. Oil is transmitted to 400 bbl storage tanks and the captured saltwater is stored in fiberglass storage tanks prior to re-injection.
In the hours after discovering the spill, the facility built a series of dams to contain the flow. They constructed two dams along Big Hill Road (a dirt access road NW of Seed Tick Road) and another dam on Seed Tick Road upstream of the culvert that feeds the unnamed tributary. The facility constructed three dams along unnamed tributary and placed sorbent boom/pads upstream of each dam. The final dam appears to have protected Little Yellow Creek. No sheen was observed past the final dam/boom contruction nor on Little Yellow Creek from the Trimm Road bridge. As a precaution, the facility placed boom beneath the Trimm Road bridge that crosses Yellow Creek. No oil noticed in sorbent boom at bridge.
Although the hard rain that followed breached some of the dams, containment measures appear to have limited the migration of oil to the unnamed tributary and to have facilitated collection of the major portion of the spill. The facility used sorbent pads to collect oil trapped along the stream (i.e, the unnamed tribuary).
The facility hired Tim Sullivan Inc., as response contractor. The contractor used a vacuum truck to collect the free product that accumulated in the excavation pit (approximately 13 x 3 feet). Significant quantities of oil were reclaimed.
On December 25, 2005 (the day after the spill), the OSC and the facility noted that the sorbent boom along the second dam in unnamed tributary was saturated. OSC observed small slick downstream of second boom. The facility contractor replaced the saturated boom and added three additional lines of 2 inch sorbent boom across the stream. EPA required the facility to construct an underflow dam across the ditch (at the intersection of Big Hill and Seed Tick) to ensure downstream protection during future excavation of contaminated soil.
An SPCC inspection was conducted in conjunction with the spill response.
The facility will excavate contaminated soil from the ditch along Big Hill Road. Any oil that has accumulated in eddies along the un-named tributary will be sorbed onto sorbent pads or removed with a hand pump. All sorbent pads and boom along the tributary will be removed once the soil excavation is complete.
ADEM will provide oversight of remaining clean up activities. The facility will bio-remediate the contaminated soil in an area that ADEM has previously approved for land farming of petroleum contaminated soils.
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