NCR#721147: On 5/9/04, the Catlettsburg Refining Co. (CRC) in Catlettsburg, KY had a process upset, due to a power failure. This caused droplets of oil to be spread over several hundred yards and into the Big Sandy River. The initial report indicated 100 gallons of crude oil was spilled. This spill was in the Coast Guard zone and MSO Huntington responded. Louisville Outpost OSC Smith called the refinery to get a status update of the spill and found out that the CRC recovered 11,000 gallons of oil so far. OSC mobilized to the site on 5/10/04 to assess the situation.
The OSC remained onscene to monitor the Responsible Party's cleanup operations through 5/12/04. Oil removal slowed considerably by that time, because all free oil has been recovered. The remaining quantity of crude oil has been spread along a heavily wooded shoreline extending over a 200 yard distance downwind of the flare unit. As of 5/14/04, CRC reported that over 15,000 gallons of crude oil has been recovered from on-water cleanup operations at the Light Oil Dock (L.O. Dock).
The oil removal action is considered to be complete by the EPA OSC. While there may be additional response actions needed to periodically remove residual amounts of oil product migrating from the shoreline, no further federal involvement is warranted. The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection (KYDEP) is the lead agency for directing any additional actions that may be required.
