Overview: On August 21, 2023, EPA received notification from the
National Response Center (NRC) about a 100-gallon spill of diesel-containing
wood preservative at a processing facility owned by the Stella-Jones
Corporation in Sheridan, Oregon. Initially, the company reported that the spill
was entirely contained onsite, and that cleanup was underway. A subsequent
report stated that the spill had reached the City of Sheridan’s sanitary sewer,
entering through the facility’s men’s bathroom urinals, and traveling
approximately ¾ of a mile into the storm water system, which eventually drains to the
South Yamhill River. The actual amount of product lost is suspected to be
greater than 1000 gallons. A cleanup contractor hired by Stella-Jones is
currently onsite.
State, Local
and other Federal Agency Actions: ODEQ will arrive
on-scene in the morning on August 22, 2023. The City of Sheridan’s Utility
Manager is assisting with the technical approach to mitigating sanitary sewer
impacts. This facility is located on a National Priorities List site, Taylor
Lumber and Treating.
EPA Actions: This incident is within EPA
jurisdiction and OSC
Randy Nattis deployed to oversee the response led by Stella-Jones Corporation. According
to the EJ Screen, there are potential EJ concerns in the proximity
of the incident location
Update:
OSC Nattis arrived on scene at 2130 pst 8/21 to observed what appeared to be a couple of thousands of gallons of material spread throughout the facility which exceeded the secondary containment of the facility and entered the storm drain and threatened the South Yamhill River, which is within 300 ft of the spill location. At the time, the RP, Stella Jones, had Clean Harbors on site securing the source and determining nature and extent of the release. Additionally, Clean Harbors had plugged the stormwater drain prior to the entrance to the South Yamhill River and was engaged with jet washing and vacuuming out the storm drains. OSC Nattis demobed from site after 0100 pst on 8/22.
Based on the latest NRC report 1376906:
TOTAL RELEASE OF UP-50 WORK SOLUTION WITH ULS #2 HEATING OIL WAS 24168 GALLONS, AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 2400 GALLONS RAN OUT OF CONTAINMENT CONCRETE SLAB AND STORM DRAIN. IT IS UNKNOWN THE AMOUNT THAT WENT INTO THE SEWER SYSTEM.
