Pollution/Situation Report Profile

Greenville Truck
Greenville, MS - EPA Region IV
POLREP #1
Initial/Final

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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
POLLUTION/SITUATION REPORT
Greenville Truck - Removal Polrep
Initial and Final Removal Polrep

EPA Emergency Response

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Region IV

Subject:

POLREP #1
Initial/Final
Greenville Truck
E15445
Greenville, MS
Latitude: 33.3701010 Longitude: -91.0760000

To:

From:

Chuck Berry, OSC

Date:

8/25/2015

Reporting Period:

08/17/2015 - 08/20/2015

1. Introduction

1.1 Background

Site Number:	V4AS	Contract Number:
D.O. Number:		Action Memo Date:
Response Authority:	OPA	Response Type:	Emergency
Response Lead:	PRP	Incident Category:	Removal Action
NPL Status:	Non NPL	Operable Unit:
Mobilization Date:	8/17/2015	Start Date:	8/17/2015
Demob Date:	8/20/2015	Completion Date:	8/20/2015
CERCLIS ID:		RCRIS ID:
ERNS No.:		State Notification:
FPN#:	E15445	Reimbursable Account #:

1.1.1 Incident Category
Clean Water Act (CWA) and Oil Pollution Act (OPA) Emergency Response

1.1.2 Site Description
A tanker truck full of biodiesel rolled off the highway and spilled approximately 3,300 gallons of product into a low-lying wetland area, a headwater of Steele Bayou.

1.1.2.1 Location
Approximately 1 mile south of Highway 1 on US Highway 82 in Greenville, Mississippi, at the intersection of Highway 82 and Lillie Drive.

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat
There is a release of oil into navigable waters of the US as defined by OPA and CWA.

1.1.3 Preliminary Removal Assessment/Removal Site Inspection Results

2. Current Activities

2.1 Operations Section

2.1.1 Narrative

2.1.2 Response Actions to Date
Around 1330 hours on August 17, a tanker truck carrying biodiesel fuel rolled over on Highway 82 southwest of downtown Greenville, MS. The truck released into the drainage ditch approximately 3,200 gallons of biodiesel, roughly half of the total load. The flow then traveled over ground until it entered a slough, the headwaters of Steele Bayou. Steele Bayou empties into the Yazoo River, which is a tributary of the Mississippi River. Steele Bayou is a "water of the US" under CWA and OPA. Based on the volume released, both the EPA and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality launched emergency responders. The responsible party was allegedly involved in an altercation with the responding emergency services, and was either asked to leave or left the scene of his own volition. As a result, no response was undertaken by the RP to recover the fuel from the truck or the slough. Based on this lack of response, MDEQ initiated a response by hiring USES. Based on conversations with MDEQ subsequent to that, OSC Berry offered to provide a Pollution Removal Funding Authorization (PRFA) to MDEQ to pay for the response. The scope of work was set to remove the remaining fuel from the tanker, upright the tanker, contain migrating fuel, remove fuel from waterways, and address impacted soils that threaten to further impact waterways.

MDEQ contracted with USES to respond to the site. The Greenville Fire Department was already on scene and dammed up the drainage ditch with sand, but only after a large amount of product escaped from the vehicle. The fuel ran south down the drainage ditch and entered a small slough or wetland area. USES used an excavator to build a containment dam at the slough's outfall, effectively containing most of the product in the slough. The slough is about 0.25 acres and had about 1--2 feet of water in places. The pond is full of biota: frogs, crawfish, tadpoles, small minnows, carp, and several large grinnel, or bowfin fish, a least one of which was almost three feet long. No dead biota was observed during the response.

USES drilled holes in all five compartments of the tanker truck, and a towing company righted and removed the vehicle. Just over 3,200 gallons of biodiesel was recovered from the truck and placed into temporary storage tanks brought to site by USES. OSC Berry arrived on site at this point, about 2330 hours Monday night. Operations proceeded throughout the night. USES began using vacuum trucks to remove water and fuel from the pond. A total of 15,000 gallons of water was collected by mid day Tuesday, and the pond was effectively drained. USES tried to remove as much vegetative debris from the pond area as possible, but the volume and muddy conditions made work slow. Meanwhile, USES used an excavator to remove the oil-impacted sod from the wreck area. Only the top surface was scraped, as there were fiber optic cables, a water main, and a natural gas main running through the drainage ditch. The risk of damage to these utilities was not worth the benefit of removing the impacted soil.

The trucking company representative returned to the site Tuesday morning and contacted his insurance company which dispatched a representative. A Unified Command meeting was held in which the RP, MDEQ, and EPA agreed to the workplan and the RP's insurance company agreed to cover all the response costs from the initiation of activities Monday afternoon. The PRFA to MDEQ was subsequently cancelled. A planning meeting was held to discuss future operations and deliverables, including an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Plan.

Over Tuesday night until Wednesday morning, the pond filled through ground seepage. An estimated 1,500 gallons of oily water was removed by USES. The biodiesel greatly emulsified with the water, rendering it cloudy with oily droplets on the surface. It was apparent that the fuel was soaking into the mud and releasing when the water rose. Flow in this pond is slow, as it is at the headwaters of the Steele bayou drainage system. UC decided to attempt one flushing action with help from the FD. This proved difficult and time-consuming with little net effect on the aggregation of oil in the pond after 11,000 gallons of water was added to the system. Discussions with MDEQ and the RP led to the decision that natural attenuation and biodegradation may be the best treatment method. Biodiesel degrades in weeks instead of months like petroleum diesel. The containment dam was converted to an underflow dam, and the O&M plan was executed. USES will monitor the site under the supervision of MDEQ.

2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)
The truck was owned and operated by:

Kenneth Jones
Jones Liquid Transport

4382 US Highway 61
Merigold, MS 38759
(662) 721-0211

The insurance company is:

Energi Insurance
10 Centennial Drive
Suite 201
Peabody, MA 01960
ATTN Timothy Butler
978-531-1822, ext. 7738

2.1.4 Progress Metrics

*Waste Stream*	*Medium*	*Quantity*	*Manifest #*	*Treatment*	*Disposal*
Oil-impacted Water	Water	15,000 gal
Oil-impacted debris and soil	Soil/debris	2 cuy

2.2 Planning Section

2.2.1 Anticipated Activities

2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities
No further EPA activity is anticipated for this response. The RP, through its contractor USES, will implement the O&M plan with oversight by MDEQ.

2.2.1.2 Next Steps
Once MDEQ agrees the removal action is complete, the underflow dam will be removed and the site returned to its natural state.

2.2.2 Issues

2.3 Logistics Section