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NRC Reports 812093 and 812097: At approximately 17:00 local time on September 20, 2006 a sheen was discovered on the Oconalustee River at the Cherokee NC Water Treatment Plant, on lands of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Local responders determined that the release was coming from a underground storage tank at a nearby service station. A request for EPA assitance was made and an OSC responder was dispatched.
OSC Byrd arrived at the Site and after being briefed by representatives of the ECBI council, fire and water treatment plant. ICS was established utilizing members of each.
Boom and absorbent pads were placed in the river in order to prevent petroleum from entering the stormwater intake. A diversionary dam was also built to prevent further petroleum from entering the plant.
EPA and START then performed water sampling at various locations throughout the distribution system. None showed any evidence of VOCs, but because of the low pressure of the tanks, the area was placed under a boil water advisory.
ECBI then hired a contractor to find the source of the release, which was believed to be a faulty line from the on-site UST. UPA's UST branch was contacted to provide oversight. ERRB then sampled monitoring wells located around the site. Many of the wells contained various amounts of petroleum.
START was tasked to provide sampling guidance with ECBI in order to take a final round of water sampling before lifting the boil water advisory.
A preliminary estimate of the amount of petroleum recovered was approximately 100 gallons and is subject to change.
Responsible party has hired an environmental consultant to perform a site assessment of the area to determine the extent of contamination. The results of the assessment are not yet known.
EPA's UST program is in constant communication with EBCI in order to assist in finding and remediating the petroleum contamination resulting from the UST.
Funding sources were discussed with the RRT at length. Because the ECBI is a sovreign nation, the usual funding streams were not available.
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