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Department
of Energy and Environmental Protection crews were on the scene of a
Waterbury oil spill Monday, as 500 gallons of fuel spilled into the
basement of the Exchange Place Towers on Center Street. This impacted a
sump pump that discharged to the catch basin network. The catch basin
network discharges to Great Brook which is tributary to the Naugatuck
River. DEEP officials say an additional estimated 100 gallons of fuel
reached the surface waters. Crews were able to contain most of the 100
gallons near where the brook meets the river. A contractor has been
hired to assist in the cleanup of both the basement and surface water.
No word on how long the cleanup process will take.
..........
Cleanup crews to return to oil spill site in Waterbury
Posted: Oct 20, 2015 6:19 AM CST Updated: Oct 20, 2015 6:19 AM CST
By Rob Polansky
(WFSB photo)
WATERBURY, CT (WFSB) - A near environmental disaster continued to be cleaned up in downtown Waterbury Tuesday.
More than 1,500 gallons of heating oil spilled in the basement of an apartment building on Center Street on Monday afternoon.
The
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection then said a sump pump
flushed hundreds of gallons of the fuel into the Naugatuck River,
putting wildlife in danger.
An
estimated 500 gallons of fuel spilled out into the basement of a
Waterbury building with about 100 gallons spilling out into a nearby
body of water on Monday.
Members of the emergency response unit
from the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
were called to an oil spill at the Exchange Place Towers, which is
located at 44 Center St. DEEP said the leak started in the basement.
About
250 barrels of oil spilled from a platform in the North Sea during the
transfer of products to an oil tanker, Norwegian energy company Statoil
said. Statoil said the oil spill was discovered during the loaded of oil
from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea to oil tanker Hilda
Knutsen. The company said in its latest update on the spill that about
250 barrels in total were released into the North Sea. "Further
assessment and investigations will uncover the scope and causes [of the
spill] in more detail," the company said in a statement. Loading to
Hilda Knutsen was halted, though operations at the Statfjord A platform
were proceeding as normal. Statoil said the relevant authorities were
notified, though there were no statements from the Norwegian Petroleum
Safety Authority. In January last year, the company shut down operations
at the Statfjord C platform after emergency systems detected an oil
leak. More than 250 crewmembers were evacuated to lifeboats but returned
to their living quarters later in the day. No injuries were reported.
Statoil said the weather in the area at the time of the Stratfjord C
incident was "harsh." Statoil said the region is producing an average
80,000 barrels of oil per day.
Norwegian
energy company Statoil said about 250 barrels of oil spilled during
incident at North Sea platform. Photo courtesy of Statoil
STAVANGER, Norway, Oct. 9 (UPI) --
About 250 barrels of oil spilled from a platform in the North Sea
during the transfer of products to an oil tanker, Norwegian energy
company Statoil said.
Statoil said the oil spill was discovered
during the loaded of oil from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea
to oil tanker Hilda Knutsen. The company said in its latest update on the spill that about 250 barrels in total were released into the North Sea.
"Further
assessment and investigations will uncover the scope and causes [of the
spill] in more detail," the company said in a statement.
Loading to Hilda Knutsen was halted, though operations at the Statfjord A platform were proceeding as normal.
Norwegian
energy company Statoil reported on oil leak Thursday near the Statfjord
oil field in the North Sea, though it's too early to guess on volumes.
The company said sheen was observed during the loading of oil from the
Stratfjord onto the Hilda Knutsen tanker. Loading was halted, though
operations at the field are proceeding as normal. "It is also too early
to say how much oil has leaked," the company said in a statement.
Statoil said equipment was on hand to address the spill and relevant
authorities had been notified. There was no word on the spill from the
nation's Petroleum Safety Authority. Statoil shut down its Statfjord C
rig in January 2014 after emergency systems detected an oil leak. The
270 members of the Statfjord C crew were evacuated to lifeboats but
returned to their living quarters later in the day. No injuries were
reported. Statoil said the weather in the area at the time of the
Stratfjord C incident was "harsh." Statoil said the region is producing
an average 80,000 barrels of oil per day.
The
Los Angeles Fire Department says a ruptured oil pipe near the suburb of
Glendale has spilled about 50,000 gallons of crude oil onto streets.
According to the Fire Department, the leak from a 20-inch pipe was
reported at about 12:15 a.m. Thursday in Atwater Village and the oil
line was remotely shut off. No injuries were reported. Oil spilled over
approximately half a mile and is knee-high in some areas. Firefighters
and hazardous materials crews are on the scene. A handful of commercial
businesses are affected, including a strip club that was evacuated. Fire
Department spokesman Erik Scott says there's no "visible evidence" that
the oil has entered storm drains, which empty into the Los Angeles
River. But he says it's possible that oil has seeped under manhole
covers.
.....
TEN THOUSAND gallons of crude oil covers half a mile of Los Angeles after pipe bursts amid fears of environmental disaster
Oil covers a huge area near the Atwater Village suburb and is said to be knee-high in many places
Leak occurred after a 20-inch above-ground pipe burst outside The Gentleman's Club strip bar
Flow to pipe was shut off remotely just after midnight local time - but leak continued for 45 minutes
Two workers at nearby industrial plant were taken to hospital to be treated for 'respiratory concerns'
Published: 05:37 EST, 15 May 2014 | Updated: 04:44 EST, 16 May 2014
The
Los Angeles Fire Department says a ruptured oil pipe has caused about
10,000 gallons of crude oil to spill on to the city's streets.
The oil
- which covers a half-mile area and is knee-high in some places -
escaped after a break in an above-ground pipeline outside 5175 West San
Fernando Road in the Atwater Village suburb.
According
to Los Angeles Fire Department, oil was spurting 15 to 20 feet into the
air from a burst 20-inch pipe, with the leak reported shortly after
midnight local time.
Clean
up: Hazardous material specialists are also working at the scene amid
concern that the massive spill could cause an environmental disaster.
Fire Department spokesman Erik Scott says there is currently no 'visible
evidence' that the oil has entered storm drains
Sweep:
Workers try to prevent the vast quantities of crude oil flowing into
storm drains. The drains empty into the Los Angeles River and there is
concern the spill could cause serious harm to wildlife if the oil gets
into the water supply
Washed
away: The clean up operation is focusing on storm drains and manhole
covers amid concern that the crude oil could seep into the water supply
and cause public health problems and damage to wildlife
Spill:
The oil - which covers a half-mile area and is knee-high in some places
- escaped after a break in an above-ground pipeline outside 5175 West
San Fernando Road in Atwater Village
Evacuated:
Five commercial businesses - including The Gentlemen's Club strip bar -
were affected after LAPD completely shut down the Atwater Village area
The
flow of oil to the pipe was remotely shut down shortly within 10
minutes of the burst being detected, but the leak continued for another
45 minutes. A
20-inch oil pipeline is medium-sized by industry standards and would
generally transport about 200,000 barrels per day based on average
rates. There was no immediate information about the specific capacity or
throughput of the line.
'This
oil comes from the Bakersfield area, this is a pumping transfer station
and pumping transfer station then transfers the oil to a storage
facility in Long Beach,' Batallion Chief David Spence said. Four
workers at the nearby Baxter industrial plant were reportedly evaluated
for general illness and respiratory concerns, with two of them taken to
hospital, according to NBC Los Angeles, Oil
was seen shooting towards the sky and on to a nearby strip bar, The
Gentlemen’s Club at around 1am local time. The Gentlemen's Club was
subsequently evacuated, Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Four other commercial businesses are known to have been affected after LAPD completely shut down the Atwater Village area.
Hikers
exploring the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern
Utah last week happened upon an oil spill over four miles in length in
an area known as Little Valley Wash. The spill is thought to be old,
based on the dense, asphalt-like consistency of the oil, said Larry
Crutchfield, Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist. And
it's a good thing the oil is so thick, he added, because that means the
spill will stay put for a while. "The good news is that there is no oil
actively moving in the wash," Crutchfield said. Because the oil in the
wash is nearly as thick as asphalt, he added, it is not posing an
immediate threat to surrounding areas. However, he said there is
evidence suggesting it did move last September when massive monsoon
rains created a violent flash flood in the wash. The area typically does
receive some rain in the springtime, he said, but not nearly enough to
fill the part of the wash where the oil is, which is far upstream. The
BLM isn't taking any chances, however, and plans to secure the area with
booms and other equipment to help protect monument resources and water
sources. Although preliminary reports last week suggested the spill may
have originated from a leak that occurred last month in a nearby
pipeline operated by Citation Oil, Crutchfield said the oil found in the
wash is very unlikely to have come from a recent leakage."The
Citation oil line did spring a pinhole-sized leak," Crutchfield said.
That leak spilled about 10 barrels of oil before it was discovered and
patched last month. The oil that flows through the pipeline has a low
viscosity and would be very fluid, he said �" not the thick, viscous,
asphalt-like substance found in the wash. The oil in the wash appears to
have been there for some time, he said. In fact, investigators
currently suspect the spill had been buried beneath the wash until it
was exposed by a violent flash flood last fall, which explains why the
spill hadn't been reported in previous years. When asked who might have
buried the spill, Crutchfield said it's quite possible that it was
covered by sediment deposited by an earlier flood. There is no way of
knowing for sure before BLM investigators complete their assessment of
the incident. "We have an idea of where the oil may have come from, but
it would be entirely inappropriate for me to speculate at this point,"
Crutchfield said. The first priority, he said, is to assess the danger
that the oil poses to the surrounding environment. "The important thing
at this stage is that we are taking action,” he said. “Citation Oil is
taking action. We are working together to figure out what exactly
happened."
Massive oil spill discovered at Grand Staircase National Monument
Monday, 03-31-2014, 08:30 PM Written by Michael Flynn
Hikers
exploring the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in Southern
Utah last week happened upon an oil spill over four miles in length in
an area known as Little Valley Wash.
The spill is thought to be
old, based on the dense, asphalt-like consistency of the oil, said Larry
Crutchfield, Bureau of Land Management public affairs specialist. And
it's a good thing the oil is so thick, he added, because that means the
spill will stay put for a while.
"The good news is that there is
no oil actively moving in the wash," Crutchfield said. Because the oil
in the wash is nearly as thick as asphalt, he added, it is not posing an
immediate threat to surrounding areas. However, he said there is
evidence suggesting it did move last September when massive monsoon
rains created a violent flash flood in the wash.
The area
typically does receive some rain in the springtime, he said, but not
nearly enough to fill the part of the wash where the oil is, which is
far upstream. The BLM isn't taking any chances, however, and plans to
secure the area with booms and other equipment to help protect monument
resources and water sources.
James
Holland, hydrologist/geologist with the Kanab Field Office of the
federal Bureau of Land Management, left, points to asphalt-like patches
of oil in Little Valley Wash in the Upper Valley region of Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument near Escalante on Friday, April 4,
2014. Holland, along with Joe Harris of the Forest Service, Mark Bing,
central regional manager of Citation Oil and Gas Corp., Terry Tolbert,
wildlife biologist, and Julie Sueker of Arcadis Environmental Consulting
Group, hiked the 4-mile stretch of the wash where the oil was
discovered.
Laura Seitz, Deseret News
ESCALANTE,
Garfield County — Remnants from at least one large oil spill found by
hikers on March 23 in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has
officials wondering how and when the damage occurred.
As many as 4
miles in the Little Valley Wash now contain the aftermath of the spill,
with about 1.5 miles of 6-inch thick oil flows contained in the mostly
dry stream bed. Bureau of Land Management officials who manage the
monument say it's likely the leak happened decades ago.
BLM
officials hypothesize that the spill became encased in sediment deposits
over time, making it difficult or impossible to see in most areas. Last
September, intense floods washed down the drainage, possibly unburying
the oil deposit and carrying parts of it downstream for 2.5 miles.
Boulders
and tree trunks in the drainage now demonstrate the depth of the
initial oil flows, with steady black lines as many as 2 feet above the
stream bed. Black splotches are found in other areas, with vegetation
collecting the oil as it flowed along with the flood waters.
Long stretches of oil patches not mixed with sediment have liquified in regions exposed to the sun.
"It's not what we want to see here," associate monument manager Sarah Schlanger said during an examination of the area Friday.
In
this March 22, 2014 file photo, a barge loaded with marine fuel oil
sits partially submerged in the Houston Ship Channel. (AP Photo/U.S.
Coast Guard, PO3 Manda Emery, File)
AUSTIN,
Texas (AP) — The barge operator that spilled nearly 170,000 gallons of
tar-like oil into the Houston Ship Channel, closing one of the nation's
busiest seaports for several days, will be fined by Texas regulators
regardless of the outcome of state and federal investigations.
Investigators
are still trying to pinpoint the cause of last weekend's accident
involving a barge owned by Houston-based Kirby Inland Marine Corp., but
Texas law considers the company carrying the oil a responsible party,
said Greg Pollock, deputy director for the Texas General Land Office's
oil spill response division.
"What that will be now I can't say because we don't have a closed case," Pollock said.
It
won't be the first fine for the company, which has paid more than
$51,000 for at least 77 spills since 2008, most of which were minor
incidents.
Saturday's accident closed the main artery linking the
area's busy ports with the largest petrochemical complex in the country.
The channel in Texas City, about 45 miles southeast of Houston,
typically handles about 70 ships and 300 to 400 tugboats and barges a
day, and sees more than 200 million tons of cargo move through each
year.
The channel wasn't fully reopened until late Thursday. At its height, the closure stranded some 100 vessels.
"As
long as the weather holds up, we can get caught up in a couple days,"
said Capt. Clint Winegar of the Houston Pilots, an association of sea
pilots.
No
timetable has been set to reopen a major U.S. shipping channel after
nearly 170,000 gallons of tar-like oil spilled into the Texas waterway.
As
workers in bright yellow suits picked quarter-sized "tar balls" out of
the sand along Galveston Bay on Monday, strong incoming tides kept
washing more ashore.
Elsewhere, crews lined up
miles of oil booms to keep oil away from the shoreline and bird
habitats, two days after a collision in the Houston Ship Channel dumped
as many as 170,000 gallons of oil from a barge into the water along the
Gulf Coast and shut down one of the nation's busiest seaports.
With
cleanup well underway, the Coast Guard said it hoped to have the
channel open to barge traffic as quickly as possible but that more tests
were needed to confirm the water and the vessels traveling through the
channel were free of oil.
The closure stranded
some 80 vessels on both sides of the channel. Traffic through the
channel includes ships serving refineries key to American oil
production.
Officials
believe most of the oil that spilled Saturday is drifting out of the
Houston Ship Channel into the Gulf of Mexico, which should limit the
impact on bird habitats around Galveston Bay as well as beaches and
fisheries important to tourists.
"This spill -- I
think if we keep our fingers crossed -- is not going to have the
negative impact that it could have had," said Jerry Patterson,
commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, the lead state agency on
the response to the spill.
The best-case scenario
is for most of the slick to remain in the Gulf for at least several days
and congeal into small tar balls that wash up further south on the
Texas coast, where they could be picked up and removed, Patterson said.
Crews from the General Land Office are monitoring water currents and the
movement of the oil, he said.
By Juan A. Lozano and Nomaan Merchant
| Monday, Mar 24, 2014 | Updated 8:49 PM CDT
NBC 5