The Yellowstone River is largely covered with ice. Crews have been continually monitoring the river corridor by air and by land for signs of sheen and residual oil. On Sunday, January 18, 2015, sheen was reported as far downstream as Crane, Montana (59 river miles downstream from the pipeline crossing). Recoverable oil is weeping to the surface at the location of the pipeline crossing and a small nonrecoverable amount of oil was discovered in a narrow crack on the ice approximately 3.5 river miles downstream of the pipeline crossing.  No additional oil has been observed anywhere along the river. No impacts to wildlife have been observed.

By Monday, January 19, 2015, test results from the Glendive Water Treatment Plant (6.5 river miles downstream from the pipeline crossing) and odor complaints from residential water consumers indicated that the treatment plant had been contaminated by the oil spill.

1. Provide for the safety of all response crews especially those working on the ice.
2. Monitor and protect the water quality of the Glendive Water Treatment Plant.
3. Identify and recover residual oil as appropriate.
4. Assess and address impacts to the environment as appropriate.

• Ongoing assessments of ice conditions indicated that the ice was stable enough to support reconnaissance, sampling and recovery operations on the river but extremely cold weather and snow limited all operations on the ice.

Identify and Recover Residual Oil:

• Sheen was observed in open water areas between the pipeline crossing and a point just downstream of the Interstate 94 bridge approximately 7 river miles downstream. No other sheen was observed downstream of this point.  The amount of sheen observed has declined since the beginning of the response. 
• Other than the area immediately around the pipeline crossing and a small amount of nonrecoverable oil discovered 3.5 miles downstream of the pipeline, no other oil was observed in the river. 
• The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) attempted to conduct a spill trajectory model and, given the available data, determined that the analytes detected were well below public health concerns and may in fact be near background levels. Furthermore, NOAA determined that the results indicated that there was no significant source for continued water contamination and that finding and modeling a discernible plume was highly unlikely.
• Oil recovery around the pipeline crossing remains difficult due to the ice on the river. The crossing is just downstream of two convergent river channels where the ice is highly fractured and irregular. It appears that residual oil is trapped within the fractures and frazzle ice at this location. Crews continued to recover oil at this location on January 30, 2015. Since this date, the Glendive area has experienced very cold temperatures and no recoverable oil has been discovered at this location.. 

496 barrels of oil have been recovered from the broken pipeline segment itself and 52 barrels of oil have been recovered from the river at the location of the pipeline crossing.

1. Maintain Unified Command and coordinate Phase II response operations.
2. Keep the community informed and maintain media relations.
3. Characterize oil degradation in the Yellowstone River.
4. Monitor water quality at the Glendive Water Treatment Plant.
5. Monitor the Yellowstone River for water quality, residual oil and wildlife impacts.
6. Classify interim incidents and implement appropriate response strategies.   

1. Maintain Unified Command and coordinate Phase III response operations.
2. Keep the community informed and maintain media relations.
3. Monitor water quality conditions at the Glendive Water Treatment Plant. Collect confirmation samples as appropriate.
4. Monitor the Yellowstone River for water quality, residual oil and wildlife impacts. Collect confirmation samples as appropriate.
5. Assess sediment conditions in the Yellowstone River.
6. Conduct shoreline assessments.
7. Conduct additional assessment and response actions as required.

• 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. 
• Current reconnaissance indicates that there is not much oil remaining in the operational theater.  Given the unsafe working conditions and the limited oil recovered, the response is rapidly approaching the point of diminishing returns. This is especially relevant given the potential damage caused to the river system by the activity of the response crews and equipment.  
• 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.

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