Management of Oil Spill Response and Cleanup in a River Under Severe Winter Conditions

Abstract

On December 31, 2000, a tank truck overturned on a sharp curve and spilled about 3608 gallons of #6 fuel oil into the East Walker River (EWR) near Bridgeport, California, elevation 6500 ft. The EWR is one of the premier trout fishing streams in the State of California, and the town of Bridgeport is economically dependent on large numbers of fisherman who come there during trout fishing season each year. The cleanup was complicated by extreme cold weather conditions and ice coverage that hampered efforts of the responders for much of the three-month cleanup.

This paper describes the successful response in detail, and specifically addresses the many issues that the Unified Command dealt with and resolved during the cleanup. Those issues included safety concerns related to the cold weather environment, cold weather influences on equipment, containment and recovery strategies adapted to the stream and ice conditions, legal requirements regarding irrigation rights and water releases from an upstream reservoir, fish habitat protection, overlapping jurisdictions of multiple state and federal agencies, and concerns of the community, private landowners, and sport fishing organizations.