| Timeline
Evening
of 24 August (Monday)
-- The spill is discovered by Louanne Fatora's son when he
goes to fish in Buckeye Creek. This was about 1 or 2 miles
above where Buckeye Creek joins Middle Island Creek at Smithburg.
Louanne
later wrote
the "oil had been pooling," was red or orange and
created a film like Crisco on the surface of the creek 1 to
2 inches thick. The contamination covered a three mile stretch
of the creek.
"When
I asked when it would be OK for my children to swim and fish
in the water, I was told it was 'just oil' and hadn't killed
any fish and was OK to be in."
Louanne
Fatora is the source for the photographs in this report about
the spill at Buckeye Creek.
Morning
of 25 August (Tuesday)
-- The spill is reported to the West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection by Louanne Fatora. Office of Oil
and Gas inspector David Scranage arrives and initiates remediation.
Booms were set across the creek at several points (at least
3). A vac truck is used to suck up material in the creek.
The inspector's report mentions first and second containment
sites and described the material as "oil." The operator
of a nearby recently drilled gas well is performing remediation.
Inspector Campbell's report states that Inspectors Scranage
and Cowan "had tracked material back to wellsite 017-5814."
26
August (Wednesday)
-- Vac truck continues sucking up material at second site.
27
August (Thursday)
-- According to the inspector's report, the residual part
of the cleanup is being done. An underflow dam is set up below
first containment area. Ryan Environmental (working for operator)
collects samples according to inspector's report. [According
to the lab report, samples were collected on 28 August and
delivered to the lab on 2 September.]
28
August (Friday)
-- Underflow dam is in place.
29
August (Saturday)
-- Additional work crew members are brought in by the operator.
Sphag-sorb is being used to absorb oil on water surface.
31
August (Monday)
-- According to the inspector's report, the operator's work
crew had made it one mile from the source of the spill, still
about a half mile from the upper containment structure.
2
September (Wednesday)
-- Sphag-sorb had been vacuumed up in upper containment area
and crew moved into lower area. According to the inspector's
report there was "little visible sign of contamination"
in upper area.
Downstream
Strategies, working for Louanne Fatora, conducted a study
and collected samples. Their report mentions seeing small
fish swimming in creek.
3
September (Thursday)
-- The work crew was working in the second area, near US 50
east.
9
September (Wednesday)
-- Operator cited for violation and well posted. The violation
was for allowing "pollutants or the effluent therefrom,
produced by or emanating from any point source, to flow into
the water of this state." The well's API number is 47-017-05814.
10
September (Thursday)
-- The inspector returns to the spill and finds it to be a
"successful cleanup." The underflow dam is removed.
According to the inspector the crew was to monitor booms daily
and continue to vac trouble spots. The inspector expected
that rainfall would clear the creek.
The
inspector's report states that 50-70 barrels of material was
vacuumed from the creek (2100-2940 gallons) and that 9 industrial
sized bags of leaves and debris were also collected.
Besides
inspector Scranage, other Office of Oil and Gas personnel
visited the spill: inspectors David Cowan, David Gilbert,
and Edward Gainer and reclamation specialist Richard Campbell.
Mid-September
-- Used booms that had been left on the banks of the creek
were finally removed.
2
October
-- Louanne Fatora returned to the site of the spill and took
additional photos. Small minnows were seen in one location,
no fish rising or water insects were observed.
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|
Patches
of the silvery sheen were still visible on the creek's
surface. |
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Patches
of a clear gel were also in the water. |
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When
a finger was placed in the gel and removed, the gel looked
like this. |
Mid-October
-- A reporter for The Exponent Telegram -- Clarksburg
-- visited the creek and noted: "While most of
the orange contaminate is now gone from the area, isolated
pools remain in pockets along the embankment."
The
reporter also noted, "No fish or any aquatic wildlife
was observed in the area. A metallic smell still lingers in
places." ["Answers
Few in Fraccing Fluid Spill," by Billy Wolfe, The
Exponent Telegram, 23 October 2009.]
Early
November
-- Officials of the town of West Union (about 5 miles downstream
from where many of the photographs were taken), whose municipal
water supply is surface water fed by Buckeye Creek, first
learn about the spill from The Exponent Telegram story
and express their concern to state agencies.
A
story by Pam Kasey ("Update:
Doddridge County Spill Raises Questions about Reporting")
on the WTRF news website (9 November 2009), discusses the
problems with the notification system for when the state receives
a report about a spill and passes that information on to other
agencies. West Union's drinking water treatment plant started
showing high levels of manganese in mid-July (about 1.6 mg/l,
about four times higher than usual) and these high levels
have continued through October. This seems to indicate that
the spill occurred in mid-July, about 45 days before it was
reported by Louanne Fatora.
Early
December
-- A reporter for The Exponent Telegram -- Clarksburg -- states
that "DEP Oil and Gas Chief James Martin said the agency
is still investigating the cause of the spill and what exactly
it contains. When asked when they will make those determinations,
he said, 'We’re hoping soon.' " ["Doddridge
Officials Wait for Answers" by Leann Ray, The
Exponent Telegram, 7 December 2009.]
Go
to the next page -- Laboratory Tests.
The
Spill at Buckeye Creek
Background |
Photos, part 1| Photos, part 2|
Photos, part 3| Photos, part 4
Timeline | Laboratory
Tests | Conclusions
|
