Duchesne Oilfield Dumping Incident

www.epaosc.org/duchesneoilfielddumping

Duchesne, UTSeptember 24 – October 6, 2010

NRC Report 955263FPN E10814

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Key Response Issues

Notification procedures and use of the NRC

Knowledge and use of the Green River sACP

Changing Oil Spill Response Organization (OSRO) tactics and priorities to fit response

Pollution Reimbursement Funding Authorization (PRFA) to “save” Duchesne County complicated

Balancing needs of the response with the “rights” of water users downstream

Protecting T&E species and maintaining flows

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Strawberry River

135 CFS

Starvation

Reservoir

Duchesne River

25 CFS

To Upper Stillwater Reservoir(35 Miles)

To GreenRiver

(44 Miles)

Impacted A

reas:

Strawberry

~ 1 mile

Duchesne ~ 3 mile

s

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Spill Discovery

Discovered by local resident on recreation path Nearby water filling station for oil production Duchesne County (DC) FD and Emergency

Management notified on 9/24/2010 at 1:30 PM DC Emergency Manager (EM) notified UDEQ and

was given a list of OSROs to contact for support DC EM ordered OSRO to mobilize and respond

under verbal contract UDEQ, TriCounty Health Department, & Ute Tribe

representatives on-scene to size-up incident DC Sheriff finds evidence of “midnight dumping” of

“up to 80bbls of produced water and oil” at ramp

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Initial Response & OSRO Escalation

Friday, 9/24/10 – Flow Reduction, Booming– 5 OSRO Personnel, Vacuum Truck, 250’ Boom– $7,500 Response Costs

Saturday, 9/25/10 – Access Points, Booming– 12 OSRO Personnel, 2 Vacuum Trucks, 2 Roll-Offs, 2,000’ Boom– $24,000 Response Costs / $31,500 Cumulative Costs

Sunday, 9/26/10 – Booming & Vacuuming– 13/16 OSRO/Sub Personnel, 2 Vac Trucks, Frac Tank, Excavator, Skid

Steer, 2 Roll-Offs, 2,000’ Boom – $32,500 Response Costs / $64,000 Cumulative Costs

Monday, 9/27/10 – Vacuuming & Gross Oil Recovery– 13/32 OSRO/Sub Personnel, 2 Vac Trucks, 2 Frac Tanks, Excavator,

Skid Steer, 2 ATVs, 2 Roll-Offs, 2,000’ Boom– $46,000 Response Costs / $110,000 Cumulative Costs

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5

10

15

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25

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24-Sep 25-Sep 26-Sep 27-Sep

Date

OS

RO

Pe

rso

nn

el

$0

$20,000

$40,000

$60,000

$80,000

$100,000

$120,000

Co

st

OSRO Personnel

Daily Cost

Total Cost

As of 5:00 PM on 9/27/2010:

- No estimate of recovered oil

- 2,000 gal of “oily water” recovered

- 15 bags of crude/oiled substrate recovered

-Estimated 4-6 weeks to complete removalto Red Butte Creek Oil Spill standards

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Notification to EPA

UDEQ eMail to EPA Region 8 RRC – Saturday, 9/25/2010 @ 9:26 AM– “Debris, including petroleum products,” – “dumped [from truck] into [Strawberry River],”– “staying in clumps and not [mobile],”– “although booms placed to contain the spill.”

TCHD call to National Response Center– Monday, 9/27/2010 @ 2:30 PM– “~20 bbls of crude oil dumped into Strawberry River”– “impacting 4 mi of Strawberry and Duchesne Rivers”– “OSRO on-scene, but EPA help/resources needed.”– EPA OSC Dispatched to Incident @ 3:05 PM

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EPA Initial Response Actions

Initial assessment of impacted river segments confirmed impacted areas and oil properties

Convened UC meeting and worked to prioritize/right-size OSRO oil recovery efforts

Consulted with DOI regarding T&E implications of reduced flows in Duchesne River

Met with BIA and Ute Tribe about their concerns Considered mobilizing ERRS contractor to

subcontract with OSROs Instead initiated discussions with the NPFC about

issuing a PRFA with DC to fund response Stopped short of “ratification” for initial costs

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Removal Effort

Involved primarily physical/mechanical collection of clumps of oil and oiled substrate by crews

Focused on working from impacted Duchesne River toward spill site to expedite restoring flows

Extensive SCAT effort along impacted areas by UDEQ, DC, TCHD, EPA and Ute Tribe

Worked closely with Central Utah Water Conservancy District to “flush” rivers

Recovered ~10-12 bbls of crude oil during 10 days of response, which cost almost $500k

DC still negotiating contract/invoice with OSRO

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30 CFS

300 CFS

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Lessons Learned & Recommendations

Utilize NRC as “one call” phone number for Oil and HazMat spills; legally enforce compliance

Cleaning up spills is our business; developing novel contracting mechanisms isn’t

Discourage independent initiative and educate EMs about the inherent liability in spill response that is inconsistent with the NCP

Conduct outreach in oil production areas, emphasizing costs/benefits of compliance

Reinvigorate sACP updating and exercises in all nine Region 8 sACPs, beginning with Green River, Colorado River, and Missouri River

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Google Earth File

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“Thank you for your support!”

Questions?Criticism?Outreach Ideas?General Harassment?

Contact me…Steven Merritt On-Scene CoordinatorMerritt.Steven@epa.gov303-312-6146