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CSFD constructed earthen berms on Motor City Drive to contain the material that had not entered the storm drain. CSFD then righted and removed the damaged tanker. CSFD also coordinated with Fountain Fire Department and the trucking company's response contractors to deploy hard boom and absorbent materials downstream on Fountain Creek at a location that was southeast of Fountain Creek Regional Park.
The United
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dispatched Martin McComb to serve as
the Federal On Scene Coordinator (FOSC). The FOSC and
members of EPA’s Superfund Technical Assistance and Response Team (START)
arrived on scene at approximately 1000 on August 26, 2016. START began monitoring response activities at the spill site, visiting water intakes to assess impacts and performing general reconnaissance of the impacted water bodies.
The FOSC entered into a Unified Command with CSFD and CSU. CSU is the owner of a power plant across the Fountain Creek and a nearby waste
water treatment plant that is downstream on Fountain Creek.
Unified Command directed the trucking company’s
response contractor to remove all free product from the storm sewer and the sewer
outfall on Bear Creek just upstream of its confluence with Fountain Creek. Unified Command also directed the response
contractor to remove product that had collected behind the closed gates at the
intake of the Fountain Mutual Irrigation Canal located at CSU's Las Vegas Water Treatment Plant.
The downstream
booming team reported difficulty establishing a recovery position. Unified Command requested that a second booming team establish another boom position further downstream at a location that
had been pre-determined by CSU in one of their Facility
Response Plans. The FOSC visited the first
downstream booming location that had been established and determined that the location
was less than ideal for effective recovery.
In addition, the FOSC witnessed only a moderate amount of sheen passing
this first booming location. The FOSC directed that this booming location be demobilized.
Unified
Command was dissolved at approximately 1330 and Incident Command was
transferred to the FOSC. The FOSC directed
the trucking company’s response contractor to maintain the absorbent material
that had been placed on site and wash out the storm drain using pressurized water
and no additives/detergents. The
response contractor collected all water and product generated during this
washing process using vacuum trucks.
The FOSC participated in a conference call with the City of Pueblo Fire Department and the Pueblo
County Sheriff just after the FOSC assumed responsibility for
Incident Command. The FOSC provided a briefing
to these officials who then requested that another, third booming
location be established closer to the Pueblo city limits. The FOSC redirected the response contractor and
resources who had been supporting the first booming location to help the Pueblo
officials establish a third boom location on Fountain Creek.
The FOSC
visited the second downstream boom location that the Unified Command had
established earlier in the day. The FOSC
witnessed only a very small amount of sheen passing this location and decided
to demobilize this boom due to the lack of recoverable product, the inability of
boom in general to recover sheen, and the health and safety concerns associated
with maintaining boom overnight.
The FOSC
proceeded to the third boom location that was being established by Pueblo Fire and
Pueblo County Sheriff with support from the trucking company’s response
contractor. The FOSC briefed Pueblo Fire
and Pueblo County Sheriff that both upstream boom positions had demobilized and
that the Pueblo position could expect only a small amount of sheen. Pueblo officials expressed concern that a
pocket of product might still release and requested to continue deployment of
the boom. The FOSC agreed but directed the booming
team to stop excavating a collection basin in the creek bed. At approximately 9:30pm, the FOSC directed
all personnel to exit the river and stop deploying the boom due to health and
safety concerns. A small crew was left
on-scene overnight to monitor the river at this location. No impacts to the river from the spill were
witnessed and all resources were demobilized from the location the following
morning.
The FOSC and
START performed a reconnaissance of the site including the Pueblo booming location early on August
27, 2016.
Small amounts of sheen were witnessed below the sewer outfall and downstream to just below the confluence of Bear and Fountain Creeks. The FOSC directed the trucking company’s response contractor to recover a small amount of product upstream
of the closed gate at the Fountain Mutual Irrigation Canal. All response resources associated with the
Incident Command demobilized at noon on August 27, 2016.
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