OT- 290 gal. crude oil spill in our town yesterday, regarding cleanup responsibility

Milacron · May 30, 2016

Lady's Island oil being investigated, cleaned by Coast Guard | The Island Packet

Ok it's heating oil...but might as well be crude oil....damn stuff is like liquid tar. Even though our marina is probably 3 miles from the hospital and on a creek off the Beaufort River, due to the tides this stuff floated in soaked up in reeds. The reeds get caught in between boats and docks and make the most amazing mess.

My boat is pure black on the dock side from the waterline up a foot and spots of it even higher due to the winds of the tropical storm. The cute part is this stuff doesn't wash off... normal boatwash does nothing ! A rag, lots of elbow grease, and "Goof Off" will clean it but will take a day of work probably. High pressure spray might do some good....but afraid to use it as mine is painted rather than get coat, might harm the paint..

And it may not be over yet....not impossible I could clean the boat and some more oil soaked reeds would creep in. So the question is, what authorities should be notified about this to make the hospital pay for the clean up ?

(and yes, this falls into the stupid problem category)

GregSY · May 30, 2016

Being 3 miles away...you'd probably have a hard time 'proving' that's where the mess came from.

Then again, in today's world they might just swarm all over your marina and clean it all up.

I guess it couldn't hurt to ask....

smalltime · May 30, 2016

So the question is, what authorities should be notified about this to make the hospital pay for the clean up ?

EPA?
Dept of fisheries?
State environmental agency?

Joe Rogers · May 30, 2016

Oil spills are an environmental hot button subject. At the very least document the labor and materials you devote to clean up. The root cause of the spill determines the liability. The entity that "owns" the spill has to underwrite the cleanup. Photographic evidence would be a plus. If you know the source definitely contact them and register the economic loss.
Joe

Milacron · May 30, 2016

GregSY said:
Being 3 miles away...you'd probably have a hard time 'proving' that's where the mess came from.

We have 8 foot tides here...strong currents....I would have no problem proving thats were it came from as every boat in the marina is effected some but mine the worst by far from what I have seen. There is no other source of heating oil in that sort of volume I can think of except the hospital and the two military bases.

Glug · May 30, 2016

I would call the emergency hotline for the agency that appears to enforce for your state. Don't waste any time with the holiday, etc. You might also contact the local fire department since they are often first responders in hazmat situations. I'd guess that the spill flushed down a storm drain, possibly inside the hospital. That drain likely discharged into a creek, etc.

The "news" article was apparently nothing more than a PR piece from the hospital. Maybe there was a sump in the mechanical room drain, but it likely overflowed due to the large volume. The article also glosses over how it "leaked". Valve open? Recent work? Unattended pump?

DHEC: Reporting Chemical Spills, Pollution

FredC · May 30, 2016

Could the oil you are dealing with be from another source? I thought heating oil was about the consistency of diesel #2. Also the newspaper said that hospital spill was 100% contained. If the stuff made it out from the hospital and is being covered up, is there any agency that will track the source and extent of the damage?

BP had to pay thousands of dollars for each barrel spilled plus make compensation to those damaged. I would imagine the same rules apply to a small spill. Keep track of your expenses and send a bill to whoever is designated the source of your oil and a copy to whichever authority is handling the fines and cleanup.

adh2000 · May 30, 2016

Heating oil IS diesel fuel. Around here they color the heating oil red in case the officials want to check the fuel in your diesel truck to see if you are avoiding road taxes by running heating oil. The stuff you are talking about sounds like bunker oil. The whole situation sounds strange, I would expect 290 gal to disperse quickly and not even be detected a few miles away.

henrya · May 30, 2016

Call your state environment/conservation/water quality department. Most likely they already have reports in hand and a good idea who spilled. Make sure they come out to your marina and inspect. They'll generate reports that will be authoritative in assessing damage and liability. In this instance, government really can help you.

CougarMountain · May 30, 2016

Sounds more like bunker fuel, than heating oil. Mostly used by commercial shipping and military I believe. Messy stuff.....

Dan from Oakland · May 30, 2016

Around here, I'm pretty sure the Coast Guard gets the 1st call for a spill.

Scottl · May 30, 2016

After reading that story it sounds as if the oil at the marina came from another source. It does sound like bunker oil and unfortunately some large vessels still flush tanks and bilges at sea illegally.

I don't envy the work to clean that stuff off white paint. Would Stoddard solvent work on it?

Milacron · May 30, 2016

adh2000 said:
Heating oil IS diesel fuel. Around here they color the heating oil red in case the officials want to check the fuel in your diesel truck to see if you are avoiding road taxes by running heating oil. The stuff you are talking about sounds like bunker oil. The whole situation sounds strange, I would expect 290 gal to disperse quickly and not even be detected a few miles away.

Well now you have me wondering, but think of the cooincidence possiblities here.....this has probably never happened in the history of this town (boats getting thick oil on them that is)....and it just happens to happen the same time as that hospital leak ? I wonder if the reeds soaking up the oil might concentrate it to a more tar like consistancy ?

crrmeyer · May 30, 2016

Kerosene usually works well, as it greatly lowers the viscosity of the oil. But I do not know if it is boat paint safe. It has been safe on the machine paint however.

jim rozen · May 30, 2016

Paging all the usual cast of characters who complain about the blatant over-reaching of the EPA, and how horrible it is
that business have to be regulated.....

On a serious note, the article made it pretty clear to me that this was probably number six bunker oil, which is what most large
plants (hospital mentioned in article) use to fire their boilers. It needs to be steam or high pressure injected in the burners, and
often the lines need to be steam jacketed in the wintertime.

When this stuff spills it doesn't look at all like diesel or no. two oiil, it washes up like thick, gooey tar.

If the hospital really was the source, you won't have to report a thing. There will be so many folks clambering around trying to
remediate the spill your head will spin.

I can only relate a similar spill that happened about ten years ago at my workplace. I did not know there were EPA officials that
wore badges and carried guns. The company had a 24 hour crew drilling monitoring wells and combing through the woods
around that stream. The fact that the waterway lead into the Croton Reservoir may have contributed to the response, but
the starting point was a roughly 500 gallon spill of number six.

There's the possibility they don't realize how far it's gone of course. A call to the command center for the cleanup might be
in order.

Monarchist · May 30, 2016

Milacron said:
Well now you have me wondering, but think of the cooincidence possiblities here.....this has probably never happened in the history of this town (boats getting thick oil on them that is)....and it just happens to happen the same time as that hospital leak ? I wonder if the reeds soaking up the oil might concentrate it to a more tar like consistancy ?

Stuff that grows in water + diesel can make gawdawful goo, but no. That is fungoides and bacteria, gets 'eaten' itself by other hongries once out of the protection of a storage tank.

You've described the more durable Residual Fuel Oil - probably "Bunker C", cousin to roofing and paving asphalt, and source probably offshore.

Might be a rather old spill just now forced ashore. Which is GOOD, as critters that make a meal of it may have already reduced the worst of its gooiness.

USCG is your go-to for salt water. Corps of Engineers had responsibility fresh & estuarine, so long as 'navigable' or tributary-to anyway, that from 1898 legislation onward.

EPA are relative newbies.

Bill

kb1cjp · May 30, 2016

I would bet the coast guard would take this very seriously, and they should be contacted. The way you describe the oil it sounds to me like someone with a bilge full of crankcase oil got pumped out into the marina with the heavy rain fall. Diesel/heating oil on water doesn't look black, but not as full of color as gasoline, more of a shiny blueish color. Dawn dish soap will attach to most floating oil and will cause it to sink. As magical as this is when you see it happen before your eyes, doesn't help the environmental side of it.

Brian

SteveF · May 30, 2016

adh2000 said:
Heating oil IS diesel fuel. Around here they color the heating oil red in case the officials want to check the fuel in your diesel truck to see if you are avoiding road taxes by running heating oil. ......

Diesel fuel is SIMILAR to heating oil but the additives to make it burn as an open flame in your furnace are not the same as the additives to make it burn under high pressure in an engine's combustion chamber. Around here off road diesel fuel for tractors and such is colored red, heating oil is not because truckers are smart enough to not put it in their expensive trucks.

Steve

tdmidget · May 30, 2016

SteveF said:
Diesel fuel is SIMILAR to heating oil but the additives to make it burn as an open flame in your furnace are not the same as the additives to make it burn under high pressure in an engine's combustion chamber. Around here off road diesel fuel for tractors and such is colored red, heating oil is not because truckers are smart enough to not put it in their expensive trucks.

Steve

There's not a nickel worth of difference in the two except that road taxes are collected on highway fuel. THAT'S why they dye fuel oil red and diesel is clear.

Monarchist · May 30, 2016

tdmidget said:
There's not a nickel worth of difference in the two except that road taxes are collected on highway fuel. THAT'S why they dye fuel oil red and diesel is clear.

Not sure how pervasively distributed ULTRA LOW SULFUR heating oil has yet become. But many regions that HAS been a significant historical dif between #2 HO and over-the-road Diesel.

Bill

OT- 290 gal. crude oil spill in our town yesterday, regarding cleanup responsibility

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