Successes and Failures with Oil Spills in the Southeastern Inland Waters

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents a brief review of several spill cases that have occurred in the Southeast in the recent past. Each case describes a unique situation — either in terms of containment, retention or removal methodology. At Athens, Georgia, a pipeline break caused the closure of the Athens Water Supply System for twenty-four (24) hours. Poor initial retention allowed taste, odors, and some light sheens to pass through the filters at the water plant into the home, causing some sixty-four (64) complaints within a matter of hours. Several inexpensive changes in retention procedures and water treatment techniques returned the situation to normal in a matter of hours. A pipeline break near Shepherdsville, Kentucky, forced some 16,000 gallons of crude oil into a subsurface layer of gravel. Storage of the oil in this fashion constituted a leaching source for the nearby water course that could have persisted for a year or more. Interception trenches were used to tap the gravel layers and water was forced into the layer up the gradient in order to “flush” the system. Ninety percent recovery was achieved at moderate expense. A vandalized storage tank adjacent to the Congaree River was emptied of 10,000 gallons of Bunker “C” near Columbia, South Carolina. Elaborate containment and recovery procedures were employed downstream. The oil, however, disappeared — save for minor vegetation stain. Not even a sheen reached the recovery site. River velocity, wind speed, temperature of the water and turbidity are discussed as contributors to this phenomena. At Jackson, Mississippi, a broken sludge pond dyke at a drilling operation dumped 40,000 gallons of “oil slops” and brine into the Big Black River. Retention on the surface was impossible because of the eight to ten knot river velocity. Light disposable sorbing booms were used to recover an estimated eighty percent of the oil. At Memphis, Tennessee, a piston film “Herder” was used to aid in recovering a portion of a 100,000 gallon spill. Because of surface debris, wind and river velocity, the Herder forced the oil into difficult tree and brush infested areas. The oil literally “ringed” every obstacle floating – or fixed — in the area. Cleanup costs soared. Pictures and sketches will be utilized to emphasize technical aspects of each situation.