News Release
| Release Number: | 04-011 |
| Dated: | 1/18/2004 |
| Contact: | Matt Rabe, 503-808-4510 |
> > The Dalles, Ore. – Long-term clean-up activities have been identified and are being implemented as officials wind down the emergency response to an oil spill at The Dalles Dam.
"Crews will continue to carryout aggressive clean-up activities wherever oil is found on the river,” said Mark Layman, state on-scene coordinator with Washington Department of Ecology. “We are very pleased with the level of effort on the part of the spill cleanup and wildlife assessment crews.”
On Sunday, field crews began mopping up pockets of oil between The Dalles and Bonneville dams. Efforts were concentrated at Bingen Marina and west of Spring Creek fish hatchery on the Washington side, and Chenoweth Creek and The Dalles boat basin in Oregon.
NRC (Foss) Environmental of Portland, Ore., the contractor hired by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, continues to carryout assigned clean-up actions, while state and federal fish and wildlife officials continue to monitor impacts to animals, the shoreline and waters.
The Incident Command Center (ICC) structure, set up to oversee cleanup and recovery efforts following oil spill, remains in place. Representatives from the states of Oregon and Washington environmental agencies, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Corps of Engineers, will continue to oversee the clean up operations.
Also participating in the initial emergency response, were the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Wasco-Sherman Public Health Department, NOAA-Fisheries, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and NRC Environmental.
Although there have been no reports of oiled birds or wildlife, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife bird line will remain activated through the end of the week. People are advised to report any oiled or injured birds to 800-22-BIRDS. On the first day of the spill, 185 dead juvenile shad and one adult shad were found in the dam spill containment. A toxicology report is pending.
On Thursday, The Dalles Dam maintenance crews discovered oil from a transformer leaked from a ruptured pipe and spilled mineral oil containing low levels of PCB into the upstream side of the dam and into the powerhouse. Samples show the PCB concentrations in the transformer oil at 8 parts per million (ppm), a level the U.S. EPA considers non-hazardous.
Editor’s Note: For more information, media may call:
Matt Rabe – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – (503) 808-4510
Joye Redfield-Wilder – Washington Department of Ecology – (509) 575-2610
Phil Hodgen – Oregon Department of Environmental Quality – (541) 278-4609
Mark McIntyre – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (206) 553-7302