EPA settlement with George Mason University will improve oil spill prevention and protect the Potomac River
08/31/2016
Contact Information:
Roy Seneca (seneca.roy@epa.gov)
(215) 814-5567
PHILADELPHIA (August 31, 2016) – The U.S. EPA announced today that George Mason University will pay a $20,964 penalty to settle alleged violations related to the discharge of fuel oil from a storage facility in Fairfax, Va. into a waterway that flows into the Potomac River.
EPA cited the University for violating the Clean Water Act’s prohibition on oil discharges to waterbodies and the Act’s Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plan regulations. The SPCC requirements are designed to prevent oil from reaching navigable waters, and adjoining shorelines, and to contain discharges of oil.
The university’s facility is located about one-half mile from an unnamed tributary of Rabbit Run, which flows through several tributaries and then into the Potomac River. According to EPA, on Jan. 17, 2015, approximately 4,100 gallons of fuel oil was discharged from aboveground storage tanks, and an estimated 3,500 gallons entered a storm drain that empties into the unnamed tributary.
Following discovery of the spill, the university responded immediately and stopped additional downstream flow of the oil. The university also quickly completed work on recovering oil and removing the contaminated soils.
As a part of the settlement, George Mason University has come into compliance with federal spill prevention requirements to better protect nearby waterways and possible downstream water supply intakes. The penalty will be placed in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and made available to fund future oil cleanups.
For more information on oil spill prevention and preparedness see:
http://www.epa.gov/emergencies/content/spcc/index.htm .
4,100 gallons of oil being cleaned up after George Mason campus spill
January 21, 2015
Photo Credit: Amy Podraza
An emergency contractor is cleaning up an oil spill that occurred this past Saturday where about 4000 gallons of diesel fuel overflowed from holding tanks at the Central Heating and Cooling Plant on the Fairfax campus.
The incident occurred around 2:15 p.m. and emergency contractors have been working to remove contaminated soil, do a controlled flush of the sewage system and drainage ditch while also using absorbent materials to remove any futher oil. The spilled fuel is used to heat water which then circulates to heat buildings on campus. Two tanks supply oil to the plant and one overfilled while transferring oil from one to another. At this time, the university is still investigating the cause of the overflow.
“It appears the oil did not affect people or wildlife,” wrote Tom Calhoun, Vice President of Facilities, and Julie Zobel, Assistant Vice President for Environmental Health and Safety in a joint statement to the university.
Calhoun and Zobel said that students could still smell oil near Shenandoah Parking Deck and along Shenandoah River Road because oil can be very pungent in small concentrations. There may also be an oil sheen in the drainage ditch or creek bed.
The emergency phase of the process should be finished next week and the university will move toward remediation. Mason is working with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to make sure the oil is gone and prevent future overflows.
“We take our environmental stewardship seriously,” Calhoun and Zobel wrote, “and will do everything we can to remediate this incident in a timely manner.”
Fourth Estate will have more coverage as information becomes available.