Tuesday, March 17, 2015

DO NOT IGNORE THE SMALLER (LESS THAN 200 GALLON) OIL SPILLS: THE POTENTIAL FOR DEVASTATING EFFECTS FROM REPEATED EXPOSURE TO SUCH SMALLER SPILLS ONTO OUR WATER BODIES.





MARCH 17, 2015

Crews are working to remove remnants of a Delaware River oil spill from Battery Park in New Castle, a week after a cargo ship dumped about 100 gallons into the waterway. An environmental group warned Monday of the potential for devastating effects from repeated exposure to such smaller spills.

The oil was from the barge Wild Cosmos March 9 at the Port of Wilmington, Coast Guard officials said. The ship apparently was refilling but overflowed capacity, with 400-500 gallons spilled on the deck and about two barrels' worth going into the river.

Tar balls have been found on the coast of Salem County, New Jersey. Oil has been detected on about 1,500 feet of shore in New Castle.

Workers spent Monday raking oil from the shoreline and removing oil-soaked debris that has been washing ashore. As news spread that the spill fouled the coast of New Castle's signature park, residents have grown concerned, City Administrator William J. Barthel said.

"Anytime you have an event like this, it could be catastrophic, so obviously it's very disconcerting to everybody," he said.

Environmental officials told the city that the cleanup at the park – owned by the city and administered by the nonprofit Trustees of New Castle Common, which is separate from city government – is expected to last about six more days, Barthel said. That timetable depends on tides and other variables. City officials are optimistic the cleaning will be done in a week.

Oil has washed up north of the park and as far south as Gambacorta Dike, he said. The spill created a quarter-mile sheen on the river, with booms placed to contain the spill and absorbent material was placed in the river to help remove the oil.

The incident is under investigation.

Barthel praised the quick responses of state Sen. Nicole Poore, who was alerted by city officials and got the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to respond immediately to the city shoreline.

"We're glad DNREC reacted as quickly as they did and really responded in a timely manner," he said.

DNREC's Emergency Response Team and the U.S. Coast Guard continue to oversee the cleanup by environmental contractors. A no-wake zone was established in the area, to last for the duration of clean-up efforts.

Authorities have decided to let the relatively small amount of oil that remains in the water – initially in a quarter-mile sheen – dissipate naturally, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Cindy Oldham.

Environmental crews worked last week picking up tar balls along the shore of Salem County, New Jersey. Pennsville police Chief Allen Cummings said the area of oily wash-up runs from Fort Mott to the Riverview Beach Park.

Officials have no estimate of the costs involved. Those responsible for the spill are expected to be held responsible for expenses from the clean-up work, Oldham said. No damage to wildlife has been detected.

The Delaware River's largest oil spill was in 1985, when the tanker Grand Eagle ran aground off Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, spilling 435,000 gallons, killing uncounted waterfowl and shore animals.

In 1989, the merchant oil tanker Presidente Rivera spilled 250,000 gallons after running aground near Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, oiling 29 miles of shoreline in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Five years later, a self-propelled barge leaked up to 300 barrels of oil after hitting a submerged object while en route to a refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey.

In early 2000, a Sunoco pipeline under the eastern end of the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, Pennsylvania, was found to have leaked 192,000 gallons of oil into refuge marsh and waters.



Oil sits on top of water along the shoreline of Battery Park in New Castle from last week's oil spill. (Photo: JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL)

On Nov. 26, 2004, the tanker Athos I hit a submerged anchor in the Delaware River while approaching an asphalt refinery in Paulsboro, New Jersey. Oil from the Athos I eventually spread across a combined 115 miles of shoreline from northeast Philadelphia to the Smyrna River along Delaware Bay northeast of Smyrna.

Jennifer Adkins, who leads the environmental group Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, said her organization's scientists have concerns about small spills as well as larger ones, and about the combined consequence of oil releases of all sizes across the Delaware's 13,000-square-mile watershed.

"One of the things we've pointed out a couple of times, at least since I was executive director, is that we don't have a great way to look at the impacts of the many smaller kinds of spills that happen on the Delaware," Adkins said.

In 2010, Partnership researchers called for a closer, regular look at the cumulative effects of all spills, along with establishment of a program to fund routine monitoring and environmental remedies for oil spill effects.

Sheens are reported and tracked every year along the Delaware, according to the Coast Guard's National Response Center. But the sources of some spills remain mysteries.



Environmental workers clean the shoreline Monday at Battery Park in New Castle, where oil has come ashore from a spill off a ship at the Port of Wilmington. Tar balls also have been found on the coast of Salem County, New Jersey. (Photo: JENNIFER CORBETT/THE NEWS JOURNAL)

Major Delaware River oil spills of past 20 years
November 2004 A single-hulled Greek oil tanker, the Athos I, twice struck a rusting ship's anchor as it prepared to dock at the Citgo Asphalt Refinery near Paulsboro, New Jersey. Heavy crude oil was dumped into the water across the river from the Philadelphia International Airport.

June 1989 Uruguayan tanker Presidente Rivera prematurely dropped anchor. The out-of-control tanker grounded off Claymont, spilling 300,000 gallons of heating oil.

September 1986 The Viking Osprey, registered in Singapore, ran against a rocky underwater ledge near Marcus Hook. A ruptured holding tank released 295,00 gallons of crude oil.

March 1986 Liberian tanker Inter Mar Alliance rammed a pier at the BP Oil Co. refinery, near Marcus Hook, spilling 189,000 gallons of oil.

September 1985 The Panamanian tanker Grand Eagle spilled more than 435,000 gallons of crude oil, polluting a 12-mile stretch of the river. The 791-foot tanker hit a rocky shoal off Claymont.

Source:http://www.delawareonline.com