Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 30, 1993 TAG: 9303300318
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 80 percent of the 336,000 gallons of oil that spilled Sunday from the Colonial Pipeline had been recovered by Monday evening, officials said. An additional 50,000 gallons was being held back by containment barriers at the swampy, isolated point in western Fairfax County where Sugarland Run, the place most of the oil ended up, feeds into the Potomac River. In some parts of the creek, oil was 8 inches thick.
Officials said recent rain and melting snow had swelled the creek and pushed some oil past the barriers into the river, which is the source of water for many communities.
The pipeline - transporting 32 million gallons of diesel a day between Houston and New York - broke open Sunday morning, sending a 100-foot geyser of oil into the air.
"This is a major spill - there's no beating around that bush," said Sam Whitehead, a spokesman for Colonial, which is paying to clean up the damage under federal supervision.
According to Whitehead, at the point where the 36-inch-diameter pipeline split open there were scarring marks suggesting that it had been struck by heavy equipment. Such damage is a common cause of pipeline leaks, he said, though there is no way to know whether the damage occurred when the pipeline was built in 1980 or more recently. It sometimes takes years for a damaged pipeline to weaken enough to burst, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating the cause of the accident. Federal officials inspected the pipeline three weeks ago and said Monday they had found no problems.
The spill forced the Fairfax County Water Authority to shut its intake on the river 200 yards downstream from Sugarland Run and curtail sales of water to some jurisdictions. Officials said tap water is not tainted, but they urged Northern Virginia residents to conserve water to stretch supplies on hand.
"We're holding our own," said the authority's James Warfield. "If this goes on for a few more days, we think we can continue to hold our own."
There was concern that the spill could affect the water supplies for other area communities.
District of Columbia officials urged residents not to boat on the Potomac or bike, jog or fish along its shores for at least 24 hours. Protective booms were placed around the Roaches Run bird sanctuary and the Tidal Basin. An oily sheen could be seen on the river Monday near Washington's presidential monuments.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which is helping supervise the cleanup, said the pipeline company responded quickly and aggressively to the spill.
Whitehead said costs easily could reach $1 million; the company's insurance has a $2 million deductible.
by CNB