Monday July 6, 2009: At approximately 9 am, a tanker truck was involved in an accident on Route 95N in Newburyport, MA. As a result, the truck released approximately 8,600 gallons of gasoline onto the road. The gasoline flowed into the storm drain and an unknown amount entered the Merrimack River.
Activities on 7/7/2009 through 1300 hours focused on three areas:
-Source area contaminated soil removal.
-Sewer catch basin pump-out and clean-out of liquid & solid contaminated materials.
-River and shoreline cleanup.
Approximately 200 cuyd of contaminated soil were removed thus far and backfilling was in progress. This is expected to complete by day end.
Contaminated liquids and solids were being removed from catch basins; progress was slow with manual methods since the gasoline flammability hazard precluded the use of automatic, higher capacity equipment.
Sorbent boom and pads were continually deployed and replaced to remove and contain sheen in the boomed-in area. Hard and sorbent boom layers are in place to contain the oiled shore area during the tidal cycles. Shore areas were padded with sorbent pads during low tide to remove gasoline residue and mobile heavier oils from the storm drain. This is expected to continue for days to weeks.
US Coast Guard Sector Boston personnel toured the site. A representative from the Newburyport Conservation Commission toured the river and shoreline area and discussed cleanup strategies with the EPA, MassDEP and RP's Licensed Site Professional (LSP) contractor.
A Notice of Federal Inerest was served upon the Responsible Party's representative.
Planned action next 30 hours:
Complete source area soil removal and backfill.
After catch basins are cleaned out, flushing of the storm drain while collecting run-off at the last catch basin before the river is planned.
River and shoreline operations will continue.
Predicted thunderstorms and possible heavy rain the afternoon of 7/7 and 7/8 may impact operations.
Flush the storm drains to clear remaining gasoline and clear high VOC vapors and potentially explosive conditions.
Continue river and shoreline cleanup. Develop the final shoreline cleanup strategy in concurrence with the Newburyport Conservation Commission and MassDEP.
Day to day on-site cleanup oversight will be delegated to MassDEP and Newburyport Conservation Commission. EPA will continue to monitor cleanup progress.
Clearing gasoline and mobilizing heavier compounds from the storm sewer for extraction.
Ongoing cleanup of the river and shoreline.
Despite best efforts, recurring sheens from residual gasoline/oil in both the sewer line and on the shoreline sediments may continue with ongoing tidal cycle and rain events for some time.
|
