Bridger, CTEH (contractors for Bridger), the EPA OSC, and four START contractors have been working to collect field data regarding river conditions, ice thicknesses, and the presence/absence of sheen or recoverable oil.

On Sunday, January 18, 2015, an oil sheen was identified 3/4-mile downstream of the Yellowstone River pipeline crossing, and at the Glendive, Montana, surface intake. No sheen was identified at the town of Savage, approximately 20 miles downstream of the spill site.  Further downstream, where there is not an ice sheet, there were observations of sheen near Crane, Montana.  ND DOH sent spotters to look for oil sheen between Sidney, Montana, and the confluence with the Missouri River.  Assessment activities are ongoing and being conducted by Bridger and its contractors, Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MT DEQ), the EPA Region 8, and the ND DOH.  Bridger and MT DEQ contacted downstream drinking water utilities to advise them to shut down their intakes.

The incident objectives are to investigate and identify locations for the reasonable recovery of free product.

Williston, North Dakota

• EPA coordinated with the ND DOH and collected samples at the Williston Water Treatment Plant.  All samples were analyzed and found to be well below the MCL for benzene.

Pipeline Operations:  

• The response teams have finished removing oil from the pipeline and have cut and capped the ends of the damaged line.  

• Responders recovered a significant amount of oil from the pipeline over Jan. 23 and 24.  A final tally of the total oil recovered from the pipeline is still being calculated.

• Bridger has used a submersible robot with camera and sonar capability to collect pictures and measurements of the pipeline. Information from the submersible camera showed 120 feet of pipeline is exposed and located one foot off the river bed for 16-22 feet.  The pipeline is anchored every 25 feet. 

 Oil Spill Containment and Recovery Operations:

• SWAT Consulting, Inc. from Alberta, Canada, has been on-site and lending their expertise in cold water oil spill containment and recovery. The team is considered to be a leader in its field.
• Crews working on oil recovery at the ice slot in the river at a milepost 3.3 miles downstream of the spill site have recovered no oil. Because of this lack of recovery production and increased health and safety risks due to ice conditions, no ice slot will be established at milepost 6.1 and crews have abandoned ice slotting operations near Crane, Montana, which is approximately 35 miles downstream.
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is conducting spill trajectory modeling to determine the reach of the oil plume downstream of the spill site. 
• Reconnaissance crews continued flyovers to spot and characterize residual and oil sheen in open water areas.
• Oil recovery remains difficult due to the ice on the river.  However, crews did recover approximately ten barrels of oily water of which approximately 50% is oil from the vicinity of the pipeline break.
• On Jan 25, surface water sampling from nine locations was completed.  Sampling is laborious, costly and yielded low levels of detection for benzene in samples analyzed to date.
• Air sampling continued but will likely stop on Jan. 26 or 27 because no volatile organic compounds or other compounds associated with crude oil have been detected.

Other Operations:

• Sampling and Analysis Plans are being implemented to characterize the extent of environmental impacts, including surface water quality and soil/sediment impacts.
• Shoreline assessments and clean-up are planned to support the work being done to develop containment and recovery locations.
• No wildlife impacts have been observed/reported up to this point.  Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MT FWP) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are preparing wildlife recovery plans.

Notifications and Coordination:

• EPA is coordinating with the North Dakota Department of Health (ND DOH) to maintain situational awareness.  
• EPA is actively coordinating with elected officials about the status of the response to the spill.
• Bridger, EPA, MT DEQ, Dawson County Disaster and Emergency Services (DES), and ATSDR have established spill-specific websites for pushing out information on the response to the media and the public.
• A Joint Information Center (JIC) has been established and is still responding to media inquiries.  Media interest in the spill has tapered over the weekend but may increase at the start of the week.

TBD as released oil quantities are calculated and oil is recovered from the river.

2.2.1 Anticipated Activities

2.2.1.1 Planned Response Activities

• Ice conditions are making oil recovery operations difficult and unsafe. The UC is developing plans to maintain a state of readiness until the ice breaks up and operations can continue.
• Continue coordination with the Glendive Water Treatment Plant.
• Continue coordination with ND DOH.
• Continue to recover product where it has surfaced in a constellated pattern immediately downstream of the pipeline break. 

• River conditions are hampering access to the spilled oil. There is extensive ice cover on the Yellowstone River, but the ice is not structurally sound enough in many locations to conduct response efforts. Significant thawing has occurred in the past two days and is increasing the risk of oil assessment and recovery efforts.
• Current reconnaissance indicates that there is not much oil remaining in the operational theater.  Over 160 man hours per day, and an extensive array of equipment is being used to recover oil within the first three miles downstream of the pipeline break.  Given the unsafe working conditions and the limited oil recovered, as discussed earlier in the pollution report, the response is rapidly approaching the point of diminishing returns.  This is especially relevant given evidence of the physical damage caused to the river by the activity of the response crews and equipment.  Representatives from Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) and FWP have expressed concern that this is likely to be the most significant source of damages to the riverine system. 
• It has been brought to the attention of the UC by the US FWS that much of the river corridor hosts nesting sites used by bald eagles; least terns; piping plovers and great blue herons that are protected, threatened or endangered.  Eagles have already returned to the area and it is expected that they will begin nesting as early as February.  Other significant species include the endangered pallid sturgeon and the spiny softshell turtle.  The UC is weighing the impacts of the response (airboats, helicopters and vehicular and foot traffic) along the shoreline versus the limited oil recovery and limited product remaining.

• The Public Information Officers are responding to requests for information/interviews from the press. A hotline has been set up for the public to get more information and is staffed by contract toxicologists: HOTLINE NUMBER - 888-959-8351.
• 313 calls have been received since the hotline became operational.  It has been almost 24 hours since a hotline call came in.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
http://www2.epa.gov/region8/bridger-pipeline-release

Montana Department of Environmental Quality
http://www.deq.mt.gov/yellowstonespill2015.mcpx

Dawson County http://www.dawsoncountymontana.org/

Bridger Pipeline LLC Poplar Response
http://www.poplarresponse.com

CDC/ATSDR
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/yellowstone_river.html