On the morning of October 15, 2019, a manual valve was left open during a system upgrade at the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (CMEEC), a public power entity, which released approximately 3,560 gallons of diesel fuel into the surrounding soil and gravel. An in-line manually-opened valve was left open during a control system upgrade, and oil flowed from a 250,000 gallon tank on site through connected buried piping and ultimately overflowed the connected 10,000 gallon tank. This resulted in an estimated 3,560 gallon release. The 10,000 gallon is a double walled tank but the overflow vent does not flow into the secondary containment, therefore, the oil was released directly onto the surrounding gravel. The horizontal extent of contamination was unknown during the release of the spill, however, the nearby river (1/8 - 1/4 miles from spill) was not impacted.
The Potentially Responsible Party (PRP), CMEEC, deployed their contractor to assess and remediate the spill. The spill was controlled on the morning of the release when the facility workers arrived on scene. Based on the actions of the PRP’s contractor, the release only impacted the adjacent gravel and soil around the tank, as a subsurface concrete layer is constructed beneath the surficial gravel and soil. The PRP’s contractor operated a vactor truck throughout the night to remove impacted soil and gravel located directly adjacent to the 10,000 gallon tank. The PRP contractor estimate these operations may take one to two days to complete. The PRP’s contractor has also ordered a geoprobe to perform sampling and define the extent of contamination .
