100,000-Gal. Gasoline PipKeline Spill Confined by Dikes, Cooperative Efforts
Company Officer—Staff Fort Collins, Colo., Fire Department
A pipeline break that released more than 100,000 gallons of gasoline in a rural area of Colorado was handled successfully by six fire departments and more than a dozen federal, state and county agencies.
The incident, which showed the value of extensive training and pre-incident planning for hazardous materials accidents, occurred near Timnath, a community of about 200 people 2 1/2 miles east of Fort Collins.
At 3:06 p.m. last Feb. 5, the Fort Collins Fire Department received a phone call reporting a gasoline leak half a mile northwest of Timnath. Winds at that time were light and variable—no more than 2 mph.
The Fort Collins Fire Department responded with two engines, a squad, a tanker and an assistant chief. We learned while en route that the leak was from a high-pressure transmission line owned by Wyco Pipelines, Inc. At the time of the leak, the pipeline was transporting unleaded gasoline for the Amoco Oil Company.
During the initial response, the dispatcher contacted the Environmental Protection Agency, Larimer County Health Department, and Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.
Vapors sampled
Upon arrival, the squad personnel began sampling vapors around Timnath to determine if evacuation was necessary. The readings indicated evacuation was not necessary at that time. The squad then proceeded to Cobb Lake, approximately 20 miles north of the break, to shut off a main valve. At that location, they were able to contact the Wyco main office in Douglas, Wyo., by direct-line telephone. They received instructions for closing a valve that helped stop the flow of the product.
Shortly after the original alarm, four additional staff personnel arrived on the scene. They helped man the command post that had been set up one-quarter mile south of Timnath and aided in communications with other agencies and incoming equipment and personnel. Heavy equipment from the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County, and several private contractors began arriving at the command post for assignment to build several dikes downstream. Colorado State Patrol and sheriff’s office personnel arrived for traffic control. Offduty fire department personnel from both Poudre Valley Fire Protection District and the City of Fort Collins responded to aid at the scene and man reserve equipment in the stations. The initial response and recall put 33 fire department personnel on the scene and adequate manning in the stations for other alarms.
Initially, some communications problems existed between the fire departments (which operate essentially as one unit) and other agencies. However, these problems were resolved with the arrival of the sheriff’s department communications vehicle. This gave us a central location for the processing of interdepartmental communications.
Delayed notification
People at the scene told us that the break occurred about 45 minutes before we received the alarm. They also said that the flow we saw when we arrived was considerably less than when the break occurred. The break was still flowing 1500 to 2000 gpm when we arrived. The reason for the delay in reporting the break was never really explained. However, I believe that the people who saw the stream of gasoline didn’t realize the full danger of the situation. This delay, of course, increased the amount of product that was released.
The pipeline company indicated it knew almost immediately there was a break, but it didn’t know where. This indication came from a change in flow at significantly reduced pressure. The pressure prior to the break was over 1000 psi and was reduced to about 150 psi when the valve at Cobb Lake was closed. The pipeline company had already shut off the line at Douglas, Wyo., but that was several hundred miles north of the break. More than four hours later, product was still flowing from the break, although the flow was significantly reduced
Chief Willis of the Poudre Valley Fire Department and Assistant Chief Chantler of the Fort Collins Fire Department moved downstream to determine how far product had flowed and to select sites to build dikes to contain the product.
Dikes built
Heavy equipment was dispatched from the command post to a location 3 miles downstream near County Road 36 to build dike no. 1. A culvert was placed in the dike to let the water flow through while containing the product (see diagram of dike). A second dike was then built about 1.5 miles downstream from the break. At this location, product recovery was initiated. Dike no. 3 was built 4 miles downstream from the break and was necessary because dike no. 1 failed. Dike 4 was built about 100 yards downstream from dike 3 as a precautionary measure. Below dike 4, booms were installed to catch any product that might have slipped past the upstream dikes.
Ten days after the incident, all dikes except no. 4 had been removed and the ditch banks had been cleaned with a high-pressure washer. The EPA is taking water samples at several locations along the perimeter and this monitoring is expected to continue through the summer. On March 5, the water within the area of the spill was certified safe for livestock.
Final cleanup was to be completed by March 7. Amoco Oil Company records show the loss of 50,106 gallons of heating oil and 126,084 gallons of unleaded gasoline in this incident. The company also said that it had recovered nearly half of the product released. The recovered product was hauled to Denver to be re-refined. Amoco says normally in a leak of this type, 40 to 60 percent of the product vaporizes immediately.
Other losses from this incident include over 700 ducks, several thousand fish, and numerous snakes, muskrats, and rabbits.
Minimal property damage
We feel fortunate that we were able to control this spill with no human injury or life loss and minimal property damage. Amoco Oil Company claims that when cleanup is complete and the soil is chemically treated, it will be ready for crop production within a year.
We were able to recover $8800 as a donation from Wyco Pipelines, Inc. We also were able to earmark these funds to build an inventory of material for the control and cleanup of hazardous materials incidents.
In addition to the Fort Collins Fire Department, the Poudre River, Windsor, Kodak, Loveland and Wellington Fire Departments participated in handling the incident. Other organizations that provided men and equipment included the Colorado State Patrol, Colorado State Highway Department, Weld County No. 2 Ditch Company, Arrow Engineering, Larimer County Environmental Health Department, United States Coast Guard, Colorado State Game and Fish Department, United States Department of Agriculture, Larimer County Road and Bridge Department, Don Kehn Construction Company, New Cache LaPoudre Irrigation Company, Amoco Oil Company, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management and the Salvation Army. In addition, Charles Heister, the state hazardous materials specialist, helped resolve the problem.
This list gives some idea of the variety of organizations that must cooperate to handle a hazardous materials incident and should be included in any pre-incident plans developed to handle such emergencies.
