Pipeline Emergencies 2nd Edition

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CHAPTER 7 Tactical Response Guidelines for Pipeline Emergencies BACKGROUND

At 10:02 A.M. in April, a 6-inch pipeline transporting #6 fuel oil and operated by an electric power company experienced a failure at their generating station as the pipeline was being recommissioned. The incident was not discovered until late afternoon of the same day, when the spill was noticed by a commer- cial fisherman and was reported to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The initial response to the fuel oil spill on the part of the electric utility was

inadequate, poorly organized, and ineffective in containing the spill to a marsh near the power generating plant. The company had an out-of-date oil spill plan, and annual drills held in the past never addressed a pipeline break in the area where the pipeline rupture occurred. Consequently, the goals and objectives of the plant emergency response team were not clearly understood, and confusion resulted in the loss of valuable time, which allowed the fuel spill to flow uninhibited into a tidal creek.

By 4:00 P.M., local emergency responders arrived on the scene of the spill,

but their hazardous materials training and equipment was not geared toward dealing with oil spills on open waterways. The fire department was able to organize a single and consolidated (ICP and to bring in communications ca- pability, but, by late evening, there was still no clear IAP for dealing with the spill. By nightfall, the State On-Scene Coordinator (SOSC) decided to request federal assistance.

By 6:00 P.M., a Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) arrived on scene and

a unified command organization was formed between the federal and state agencies. The local fire department, which had a command structure already organized, was not welcomed into the unified command structure, and a new organizational structure consisting of federal and state agencies was formed. As the first day of the incident came to a close, there was still no organized response for dealing with the spill from the pipeline.

By the next day, approximately 140,400 gallons of #6 fuel oil had been re-

leased into surrounding wetlands and into a nearby salt water creek, which drained into a sensitive commercial fishery and navigable waterway. Miles of shoreline and marinas were contaminated, and sensitive oyster beds were damaged. Recreational and commercial fishing were closed for weeks. While there were no injuries, approximately $71 million was spent on environmental response and clean-up operations.

Comments and Observations

• This scenario intentionally omits a discussion of the IAP because there simply wasn’t one. Incidents that start out bad due to lack of communica- tion, cooperation, and coordination usually stay bad. In the real world, poor emergency planning and lack of cooperation can result in bad out- comes. The end result in this scenario is that significant environmental damage occurred because:

– Contingency response plans were out of date;

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