1.1.2.1 Location

The Site is bounded by Western Avenue to the south (ME Route 202), Puddledock Road to the west, Clark Marine facility to the north, and wetlands and farmlands to the east.  Storm drain lines from the facility flow westerly towards Lake Cobboseecontee, and Tanning Brook flows northward alongside Puddledock Road toward tributaries of the Kennebec River.  Approximately 1,155 people reside within a one-mile radius of the site.

1.1.2.2 Description of Threat

1500 gallons of used motor oil were released from a tanker trailer that had no secondary containment and was not listed as a storage container in the facility's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan.  The release occurred during an uncharacteristically warm spring day, causing snow melt and waste oil to mix, emulsify, and travel west across an abutting field through Clark Marine’s maintenance facility and storage yard.  The waste oil continued west through Clark Marine’s parking lot and into the drainage ditch along Puddledock Road.  The oil continued to flow in a northerly direction through wetlands towards Tanning Brook.  Drainage ditches and wetlands were all impacted by waste oil and could be observed approximately ¼ of a mile from the point of discharge.

2.1.1 Narrative

On March 8, 2012 at 1642 hours, J&S Oil Company, Inc. (J&S) representatives reported to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) that up to 1,500 gallons of used motor oil had been released from a tanker trailer at their facility in Manchester, ME. J&S informed MEDEP that the oil had run into a field and throughout a neighboring property, Clark Marine on Puddledock Road. J&S explained that the tanker was no longer actively leaking, and that J&S employees were using oil sorbent pads and boom to contain the oil.

2.1.2 Response Actions to Date

Upon arrival at the scene, MEDEP observed that the tanker trailer (used to store used motor oil from their oil change business) was located at the edge of the parking lot of the J&S Oil's bulk plant behind the main office with no secondary containment.  The tanker trailer was not listed in their SPCC Plan, and therefore there were no worst-case response plans to follow.

MEDEP observed that the oil had discharged from the tanker trailer to the abutting field and ran on the snow melt water down grade through Clark Marine's lot into the road drainage ditch along Puddledock Road and through a culvert under the road and north in the road drainage ditch for several hundred yards. MEDEP deployed additional containment boom and sorbent boom in the roadside ditch and in front of the culvert to contain the oil to the spill side of the road. Containment boom and sorbent boom were then deployed in drainage flows to the north of Clark Marine and across the access road to the south. J&S employees worked in the field collecting oil with sorbent pads and deployed sorbent boom to attempt to contain the oil in the field. 

MEDEP met with J&S representatives who then contacted Clean Harbors to mobilize and deploy equipment and personnel to clean-up the waste oil and related damages. MEDEP surveyed the site and established that the oil had run on the snow melt water into a storage building at Clark Marine and under and between approximately 100 boats stored for the winter on that property.  At 2000 hours, MEDEP notified the National Response Center about the incident and requested EPA’s assistance due to the impact to wetlands and tributaries of navigable waters of the United States.

Throughout the night until approximately 0200 hours, Clean Harbors and J&S employees used vacuum trucks and sorbent pads to collect oil on top of the snow melt water in the field and within the Clark Marine property.  J&S representatives contacted an excavating company, AI Doggett, to be on-site the next day to begin excavating oil impacted soil.

On March 9, 2012, EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinator (OSC), Elise Jakabházy, arrived on-scene at 0850 hours and integrated into Unified Command (UC) with MEDEP and J&S personnel.  MEDEP and EPA inspected the tanker trailer and found no evidence that the tank, piping, nor valves had failed causing the discharge. The tank trailer discharges were all capped. There was oil on the pavement under the tanker trailer but only on the discharge side and it appeared that the oil had mostly discharged into the abutting field.  At 0900 hours a Planning Meeting was conducted. On-going clean-up operations objectives were set and safety concerns and required personal protective equipment were set: 

• Clean-up operations continued in the field area with response personnel removing waste oil and oil-impacted soil, and on the Clark Marine property with Clean Harbors vacuum trucks collecting free product and hand crews placing and maintaining sorbent pads.  
• It was determined that the boats stored at Clark Marine needed to be removed and relocated to access the oil.  J&S coordinated with Clark Marine and arranged for the transport and storage of the boats (this process was complicated by the Boat Show in Augusta, ME this same weekend).  
• Clean Harbors continued to collect pockets of oil with vacuum trucks and absorbent pads. An excavator was mobilized on-site to build underflow dams in the drainage ditches while contained oil was collected with vacuum trucks.  
• Oil impacted soil was removed from the field and contained in roll-off containers and then staged in a bermed plastic lined area in the field abutting the tanker trailer. 
• Clark Marine identified that it had a drinking water well on-site.  Oil had run within 10 feet of the well head, and the issue was referred to Maine DEP Technical Services to test the well for petroleum.

On March 9, 2012 at 1300 hours, EPA’s OSC issued a Notice of Federal Interest to the J&S Oil Company, Inc. representative and explained that OSC Sherrin would be contacting them to follow up with an SPCC inspection since the tanker that caused the incident was not listed in their existing SPCC Plan, and that there had been no secondary containment around the tanker.

Due to lack of daylight, UC personnel temporarily demobilized from the incident at 1715 hours while response contractors continued to maintain the underflow dams, vacuum trucks, and sorbent pads during the evening.  At 0800 hours on March 10, 2012, the UC regrouped on site.  At 0900 hrs, the UC conducted an Operational Briefing with Clean Harbors to review, update, and refine operational objectives and strategies defined during the two previous days and a Planning Meeting was conducted at 1230 hours.

Clean-up operations continued removing free product on standing water behind dams, boom, and puddles; oil impacted soil and snow were removed; an interception ditch was dug in the abutting field to the tanker trailer location to collect oil run off and prevent it from migrating to the drainage ditch; oil was vacuumed from the interception ditch; and some of the stored boats were moved to J&S Oil's property.

Steve Mierzykowski from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) arrived on-scene at 0950 hours and was accompanied by MEDEP and EPA through the oil flow path.  USF&WS inspected the west side Puddledock Road drainage ditch down to a cattail wet area where we observed a red-brown substance in the water around the cattails. USF&WS inspected the area north and west of the area and reported that he did not feel that any major wetlands or wildlife were at risk.

At the end of the day, EPA’s OSC demobilized from the incident since UC determined the operations would be suspended for the next day (Sunday) since the oil was contained. MEDEP response personnel checked on the site on Sunday to insure containment dams and boom were secure and maintained.

Under the oversight of MEDEP, the cleanup operations continued March 12 and 13, 2012: free product collection and soil removal was accomplished in Clark Marine lot; a drainage ditch on the west side of Puddledock road was cleaned out with a vacuum truck; a soft-sided storage structure was removed from Clark Marine property to access oil under it; and oiled debris in Clark Marine's storage building was removed and disposed with oiled absorbent material.  Oil absorbent boom was replaced and dams left in place until staged soil was removed from site. Clean Harbors disposed of the vacuumed oil water mix at their Rumery Road facility in South Portland.

Through March 22, 2012, soil was removed from the Clark Marine property and small pockets of oil on standing water was collected with absorbent pads. The area was backfilled and the boats returned to the property. The staged soil was sampled for laboratory disposal analysis to meet acceptance criteria at Crossroads Landfill in Norridgewock.

On April 26, 2012, the Puddledock Road drainage ditch was cleaned out with vacuum truck and the underflow dams removed.

On May 15 & 16, 2012, the soil was transported to Crossroads Landfill in Norridgewock for disposal and the field area was restored.

2.1.3 Enforcement Activities, Identity of Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs)

On April 25, 2012, OSC Alex Sherrin conducted a formal SPCC inspection at the facility to follow up and address the problems identified during the incident.  During the inspection, it was determined that the SPCC Plan and implementation of the plan was inadequate as the SPCC Plan failed to address secondary containment with respect to tanker trucks parked overnight with product in them, secondary containment for the rack, and secondary containment for all the bulk storage tanks.

On May 14, 2012, EPA's Region 1 Office of Environmental Stewardship sent J&S Oil Company, Inc. a Certified Letter requesting Information, Docket No. 12-308-031 regarding the Oil Discharge described in this POLREP.

Case Pends.

2.1.4 Progress Metrics