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Pollution Incident Response Seminar: Prince Of Wales Bay Diesel Spill Case Study
Alex Woodward
GCC
Jo Goudie & Tony Port
EPA
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Overview
- On Thursday 17th September 2015
complaints were received about an ‘orange chemical substance’ in the water at POW Bay.
- GCC EHO’s attended onsite immediately
and investigated the issue.
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Overview Cont.
- Officers detected a strong petroleum
- dour and immediately took a sample
and sent it to the lab for analysis.
- The lab report was received the following
day advising that the sample exhibited a profile that is similar to Diesel.
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Lab Report
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Overview Cont.
- During the initial inspection GCC Officers
immediately contacted the EPA to advise
- f the spill. Council’s Stormwater
Investigation Officer was also called on for assistance.
- EHO’s then proceeded to a petrol station
adjacent to the spill to investigate.
- No signs of a recent spill.
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Overview Cont.
- Council’s SW crew then began lifting
manhole lids across the Brooker Hwy in an attempt to trace the source.
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Overview Cont.
- EPA & GCC then decided to call TasFire to
assess the risk of fire/explosion.
- Two fire crews attended onsite within
- minutes. Tests were conducted at several
locations.
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Overview Cont.
- TFS officers used a device to detect the
levels of potentially explosive gas build up in the stormwater pipes.
- All tests confirmed the levels were too low
to present any dangers.
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Overview Cont.
- EPA & GCC officers then agreed that the
best option would be to flush the lines using stormwater held in a storage tank in Gormanston Rd.
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Overview Cont.
- Decision made due to the following
factors:
- Bunding of the stormwater outlet would not
have achieved a high level of success due to winds increasing in the area.
- Tide was going out.
- Appeared that the majority of the spill had
already made its way into the bay.
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Overview Cont.
- Council Officers continued to lift the manholes
along Derwent Park Road and side streets.
- Odour continued to be detected past
Gormanston Road, but investigations could not continue due to manholes being within the roadway & peak-hour traffic.
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Overview Cont.
- The EPA and GCC released a media statement
in the following days.
- Officers continued to investigate a number of
businesses in the following weeks.
- Unfortunately the source is still unknown.
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Overview Cont.
- Diesel dissipated quickly over the next 24 hrs
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Outcomes
- Develop a Standard Operating Procedure
(SOP).
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- Purchase Spill Kit - Oil & Fuel on Water
Source: Perth Petroleum Services
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Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the Glenorchy City Council Staff, EPA Staff & TFS Staff who were involved in the incident.