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.

This operational period (characterized as "Phase II") was a transitional in nature, dominated by the melting and break-up of river ice.  Once the ice break started in earnest around March 14, 2015, all equipment and personnel were pulled off of the river until March 19, 2015.  On-water and shoreline activities resumed on March 20, 2015.


Protection of Glendive's Drinking Water Supply:


• On February 25, 2015, an in-line VOC water monitoring instrument was fully operational and on-line at Glendive's Water Treatment Plant (WTP).  This instrument provides VOC readings at 15 minute intervals at the water intake, and is used to guide adjustments to the water treatment to remove VOCs as needed.  Once this was brought on-line EPA's mobile laboratory was demobilized. 
• In anticipation of an abrupt spike in VOC levels associated with ice break-up, over March 12-13, 2015, the City of Glendive fully filled its pre-sedimentation basins, holding tanks, clear well, and treatment units.  This provided the city with the ability to provide treated water to Glendive without adding any water for roughly 2.5 days.  On the morning of March 14, 2015, the ice on the Yellowstone River upstream of the WTP began to break at a prodigious rate.  At this time the city shut down its water intake.  As was expected, VOC levels jumped from non-detect up to >200 ppb over the course of the day. 
• On March 14, 2015, the UC, in consultation with the City of Glendive  decided to add an aeration unit to the first cell of the sedimentation basins to strip VOCs.  In addition, the WTP increased the amount of activated carbon used with its dual media filters.  These adjustments were in-place by the afternoon of March 14, 2015.
• On March 14, 2015, the UC and the City of Glendive issued a public request for residents of Glendive to conserve water while adjustments were being made at the WTP.  To aide in this request the UC made bottled water available for pick-up by the public at the County DES Office.
• On March 15, 2015,with the additional treatment in place,  the City of Glendive resumed pumping water from the Yellowstone River.
• On March 16, 2015, the request for water conservation was rescinded.  VOC levels in the intake water had decreased to normal levels by March 17, 2015.

           Identify and Recover Residual Oil:

• No oil was recovered from the Yellowstone River during this operational period.
• On March 20, 2015, aerial and water recon was resumed.  The only oil observed in the river was associated with stained ice, and very intermittent and highly weathered sheens coming from this ice.  No oil was observed in a recoverable condition from the vicinity of the pipeline break down to the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.
• After consultation with the State of Montana (as required by the NCP at 40 CFR 300.320(b)) and communication with the affected Natural Resource Trustees, FOSC Peronard declared federal response efforts complete as of March 22, 2015.
• The State of Montana remains in Unified Command with the Bridger Pipeline Company to complete the Phase III Assessment (see Plan) and conduct any further remedial action deemed appropriate.
• The Natural Resource Trustees also will continue their NRDA work.

No oil was recovered during this operational period. 496 barrels of oil had been recovered from the broken pipeline segment itself and approximately 60 barrels of oil have been recovered from the river at the location of the pipeline crossing during earlier operational periods. 

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.

EPA will remain engaged with the spill response as needed to support the remaining operations.

• 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