Thursday, February 5, 2015

OHIO EPA FINDS 125 DEAD DUCKS NEAR TITAN TIRE WASTE OIL SPILL SITE IN BRYAN, OHIO





 OHIO EPA FINDS 125 DEAD DUCKS NEAR TITAN TIRE WASTE OIL SPILL SITE IN BRYAN, OHIO


January 19, 2015

 



Effort made to clean about 400 surviving birds 


BRYAN, OHIO — Authorities are working to assess the full scope of damage from Saturday’s oil spill at Titan Tire after another 125 dead, oil-soaked birds were found Thursday near the spill site.

Cleanup is underway after a large oil spill in Williams County. It happened at Titan Tire in Bryan.  

John Windau, spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s wildlife division, said the agency continues to work with volunteers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess the total loss. Most of the dead birds found Thursday were ducks, and they bring the total number of dead animals to 150, he said.

The Ohio DNR will consider filing charges once it believes it knows the full extent of the damage, Mr. Windau said. Meanwhile, efforts to decontaminate about 400 surviving ducks continue, he said.

Volunteers are working with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Inc., of Newark, Del., to wash off oil. Cleaning each bird takes about an hour, said Lisa Smith, the group’s executive director.

The spill was reported to the Bryan Fire Department Saturday morning by a local waterfowl hunter, Dick Long.

Mr. Long, a retired city of Bryan power-plant operator, told The Blade many ducks were “just walking” in the vicinity of Prairie Creek, better known in Williams County as Ditch 40. He said he noticed them acting strangely while he was hunting about 7:50 a.m. He was able to grab one and noticed it was full of oil.

The fire department and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency traced the spill to Titan Tire’s factory on South Union Street. The company has not responded to requests for interviews.

Dina Pierce, Ohio EPA spokesman, said there was a problem with a valve on an above-ground storage tank, releasing used lube oil into the creek. The Ohio EPA is awaiting a company-hired consultant’s report, which will estimate the amount of spilled oil. Much of it was never recovered because of heavy rain.

Water treatment plant operators in Defiance, Napoleon, and other downstream communities were notified as a precaution, but no problems were reported with their drinking water. Ditch 40 flows into the Tiffin River, a Maumee River tributary.