News Release
| Release Number: | 00-150 |
| Dated: | 8/22/2000 |
| Contact: | Heidi Y. Helwig, 503-808-4510 |
Portland, Ore. -- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees at The Dalles Dam are working closely with personnel from a number of other agencies following the spill of a hazardous material near Fifteen Mile Creek. When a semi-truck carrying herbicide crashed early this morning, the trailer section of the truck crashed near the creek and caught fire.
"We're basically providing logistical support at this point," said Jerry Balcom, who is the environmental compliance coordinator for The Dalles Dam. Along with Balcom, a cadre of Corps personnel who are trained to respond to oil spills provided an oil boom and a work boat to assist the unified response team, which includes personnel from the Department of Environmental Quality, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Oregon State Police. The crews are booming off the mouth of Fifteen Mile Creek to minimize the amount of pollutant entering the Columbia River. Balcom said the Corps will provide lighting at night to allow work to continue around the clock.
The volume amount of herbicide carried in the trailer was about 4,000 gallons, about one-third of which remains in the trailer, with the remaining two-thirds spilled onto the surrounding soil and into Fifteen Mile Creek, said Balcom. One of the goals of the spill recovery effort is to transload the remaining herbicide from the damaged truck to another truck, Balcom said. When the material has been successfully transferred, more aggressive work in and around the creek can begin, he said. Spill recovery efforts are expected to continue at least two to three days, he said.
Fifteen Mile Creek is located immediately below The Dalles Dam, directly across from the dam's tailrace, on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. The dam's fishways have not been impacted, Balcom said, due in large part to the Corps' continued power generation, which creates currents that are forcing the contaminated waters in Fifteen Mile creek to stay within the creek, he said.
Seufert Park, the site of the Incident Command Center for the unified response team, is located on the west side of Fifteen Mile Creek. It is closed to all visitors during the spill response efforts.