Potomac geese covered in oil, but source of leak is unknown
Oil sheen found in the Potomac River appears to have dissipated
(about 4 hours later)
More Canada geese were discovered covered in oil Friday as a multi-agency task force struggled to contain and clean up the oil found leaking into a Northern Virginia wildfowl sanctuary and the Potomac River.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said Friday that the oil sheen spotted in portions of the Potomac River over the past two days, coating some wildlife, appears to have subsided.
So far, 18 geese, eight more than Thursday, have been contaminated by oil of unknown origin at Roaches Run in Arlington, just north of Reagan National Airport, Coast Guard Lt. David Ruhlig said Friday, adding that the spill ranges from there at least to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, several miles downstream on the Potomac.
Coast Guard Lt. David Ruhlig, who is leading the multi-agency investigation into the spill, said the sheen has largely dissipated and is now limited to the area around Roaches Run Waterfowl Sanctuary in Arlington.
“The cause is the source of an active investigation,” he said at a news conference at the District’s Department of Energy and Environment offices. “I can’t definitely rule [any source] in or out.”
The oil sheen was first discovered Wednesday afternoon. The Potomac Riverkeeper Network, a nonprofit organization that monitors the river, was one of the first to sound the alarm. In a statement Friday, it said that it was “extremely concerned about the spill” and called on authorities to “investigate and prosecute the party responsible for this ongoing pollution of our nation’s river.”
At least 18 geese and a duck have been discovered covered in oil at Roaches Run, just north of Reagan National Airport, and elsewhere in the Potomac River watershed.
Virginia environmental officials said Friday that they are investigating the cause of the oil sheen.
About 13,500 gallons of mineral oil leaked from a Dominion Virginia Power company transformer station late last month, but state officials said it was too early to tell whether that was the cause of the river contamination.
William Hayden, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), said his department is working with the Coast Guard and Maryland environmental officials to determine the cause.
“We just don’t know” that the Dominion leak is the cause, Hayden said. “We’re trying to sort that out, but it’s taking a little time.”
A Dominion Power spokesman said the sheen does not appear to be connected to the earlier oil spill, most of which has been cleaned up.
“We have no evidence to indicate it’s from a recent mineral oil spill at a Dominion substation,” David Botkins, the spokesman, said in a statement. “We have conducted an exhaustive cleanup of the spill in coordination with local, state and federal officials. We will continue to work closely with the local, state and federal officials.”
A DEQ report says the storm-water systems near Roaches Run were inspected Thursday and no oil sheen was evident.
However, the report states, the department received numerous calls about oil seen in various portions of both the Potomac and Anacostia rivers.
[The Potomac River, in good health and bad]
[The Potomac River, in good health and bad]
Ruhlig said there’s no determination yet how much oil has gotten into the waters of the run or the Potomac, because “a sheen is difficult to quantify.” But, he added, “We have a concentration of product at Roaches Run. It’s premature to rule out other sources.”
The Coast Guard is leading a multi-agency task force that has employed helicopters, boats and ground workers. The agency said it will be some time before tests to determine whether the substance is mineral oil or a heavier petroleum-based oil will be completed. One source of the oil, which has been spilling into the waterways for at least a day, has been found to be a pipe, apparently from a sewer, at Roaches Run. Booms and absorbent pads have been placed at the site, Ruhlig said, and workers on the ground are monitoring them.
Tommy Wells, director of the District’s environment department, said birds tainted by oil have been found at Hains Point, across the Potomac from the Roaches Run-Gravelly Point area.
The officials said there’s no danger to humans from the oil, which typically dissipates. “Birds and fish are the main concern,” Wells said.
The oil runoff appears to have started in a place where multiple jurisdictions overlap. Roaches Run is in Arlington County, but the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has some authority there because it’s immediately below the landing route at the airport. The river itself is under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia, but its shores are controlled by the National Park Service and the city of Alexandria.
The Coast Guard has authority over the navigable waters, and as the federal agency involved, it took charge of the situation after almost a day of confusion as to who was in charge. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Maryland Department of the Environment are contributing to the monitoring and cleanup, Ruhlig said.
Dominion Power, which had a 13,000-gallon spill at its Crystal City substation Jan. 24, said it has cleaned up that spill, and there’s no evidence that oil in the river came from its facilities. Dominion spokesman Rob Richardson said Dominion is cooperating with all the agencies looking into the source of the oil.
A member of the Potomac River Keeper organization, who arrived at the scene at daybreak Friday, said the midday tide was pushing oil that had been somewhat contained , over the booms laid to corral it.
“The sad part is that pond is a wildlife sanctuary that has oil from bank to bank,” Dean Naujoks said. “Now the tide is going out, and the oil is flowing over the top of the booms. They’re just hemorrhaging.”
Ruhlig said he had no reports that would confirm that sighting.
