U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

HTTPS

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock () or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Stackyard Hollow

 
Site Contact:
Michael Towle
On-Scene Coordinator

(towle.michael@epa.gov)

Site Location:
Joan Street
Wheeling, WV 26003
 response.epa.gov/stackyardhollow
NRC#: 1071182

The Site is the location of a discharge of oil into a small tributary (Stackyard Hollow) to Wheeling Creek. The oil emerges from within and around a pipe entering a box culvert through which Stackyard Hollow flows. The oil also emerges into the interior of the nearest structure - a residential dwelling. The oil in the residence has come up through floor tiles in a rear room. The EPA and WVDEP have conducted a Prelimary Assessment of the discharge. The source of the discharge has been determined to be a leaking oil/gas well located under the building. Removal activities have commenced on July 13, 2015, in an attempt to mitigate the discharge of oil from the well.


Installation of valve gates on both the well control head and perpendicular pipe Vacuum line system connection and implementation for removal activities Vac lines connected and ready for removal operations Super vacuum staged and ready for operations; potential spill areas contained Gate valve installed atop the well View inside the well; fluids and gas bubbling ERRS' contractors pour cement and secure the well control head on the well The pipe that was observed to be discharging oil into the culvert below was revealed to lead directly to the well discovered beneath the structure. Picture showing the pipe from the culvert leading to within 12 inches of the well (the blue pipe is the temporary vent stack) Absorbent pads and boom in Stackyard Run Oil (sheen) coming out of the culvert on Stackyard Run Oil at boom on Stackyard Run Lower section of the culvert wall near oil seep. Property owner discovers bubbling gas beneath the floor of the residence. Location marked where the magnetometers received their strongest signal. View of the camera equipment, while the camera is in the pipe. View of the pipe following cleaning operations. Subcontractor utilizes a high-pressure hose to clean out the pipe. Subcontractor on stand-by manning the vacuum hose. Exit waters of Stackyard Hollow, at the downstream end of the culvert. View of the upstream end of the culvert. View of the oil-stained wall beneath the leaking pipe. Close view of the electrical wire connection to the leaking pipe. The diameter of the leaking pipe was measured to be 5 3/8 inches. A view of the interior of the culvert. A view of the interior of the pipe inside the culvert; note the large amount of built-up paraffin. The leaking pipe contained a large amount of built-up paraffin. START attempts to push the metal handle of soil augering tools into the leaking pipe. Soil augering operations along side the residence.
For additional information, visit the Pollution/Situation Report (Pol/Sitreps) section.