Summary of Town's Response to Burbank Oil Release
As of Friday, April 16, 2004 the Town concluded all required remediation activities related to the Burbank oil release incident in accordance with state environmental regulations. This document provides a summary of the response actions taken between December 12, 2003 (when the release was discovered) and April 16, 2004. The Town is pleased to report that the Town’s actions fully responded to all applicable state and federal requirements and the impacted sites are now fully in compliance.
On Friday, December 12, 2003, at about noon, the Belmont Fire Department received an emergency call reporting that oil was observed entering Clay Pit Pond from the Wellington Brook outlet. The Fire Department notified Town Officials, who immediately contacted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) – Emergency Response Unit, and initiated emergency response activities at Clay Pit Pond. The Fire Department traced the release through the public storm drain system to a 10,000-gallon underground storage tank system containing No. 4 fuel oil at the Burbank School. State environmental regulations required the Town to engage a Licensed Site Professional (LSP) to oversee response activities and the Town promptly hired the firm of Haley & Aldrich to assess, monitor, implement and document
the remedial efforts, with Joel Mooney, LSP, personally overseeing the clean-up operation. The DEP assigned Release Tracking Number 3-23441 to the oil release.
The No. 4 fuel oil traveled from the return line of the Burbank School underground oil tank, found its way into the storm drain system at the Burbank School, flowed in the subsurface drain pipes down the School’s driveway to School Street, into the storm drain system below School Street, which flows into the Wellington Brook concrete culvert below Concord Avenue, and ultimately into Clay Pit Pond at its southwest corner. This path is shown on the following plan.
The Town estimates that approximately 10,000 gallons of No. 4 fuel oil were released, of which approximately 1,000 gallons entered the Pond. Most of the flow into the Pond occurred on 12 December 2003, before response actions mitigated the release. Since oil floats on a water surface and Clay Pit Pond has a submerged outlet, there was no impact downstream of Clay Pit Pond. The downstream outlet into Little River was monitored on a daily basis during response activities and no impacts were observed.
Therefore, the release impacted three areas: 1) the area of the tank at the Burbank School, 2) the storm drain pipes between the School and Clay Pit Pond, and 3) Clay Pit Pond. The Town addressed and remediated these areas between December 12, 2003 and April 16, 2004, when the LSP determined that the clean-up was complete.
The Town created a Response Team comprised of heads of many Town departments to share information and coordinate activities around the release. Information related to the release and response actions has been posted on the Town’s website and shared with the local news media to better inform the public. Consistent with DEP regulations, certain submissions have been made to maintain regulatory compliance of on-going response activities. Throughout the response efforts, the town has communicated with and updated DEP on all aspects of the response actions.
Investigation of the probable cause of the release is ongoing. At this time it appears that the probable cause of the release was the defective design, specification, installation, testing and/or inspection of the oil return line and its cathodic protection.
Minor work regarding restoration of areas at the School and the Pond, which were disturbed as a result of the response actions, remains to be done and will be performed by the Town. Environmental response actions are complete.
The Town submitted a Response Action Outcome (RAO), as required by DEP. The RAO summarizes the existing conditions and status of the site.~~Its submission means that: 1) the Town has brought the site into regulatory compliance, 2) no further response actions are required and 3) no further regulatory submissions are necessary. Finally, there are no ongoing restrictions on use of the site resulting from this incident.
Some other points about the response actions:
--To the best of the Town’s knowledge, excavations at the Burbank School removed all contamination from the former tank area, along and around storm drain lines and other relic drain lines, and other areas of residual contamination.
--Explorations performed at the Burbank confirmed that: 1) the release to the soil was limited to the area of the tank excavation and connecting drain lines; 2) there was no apparent impact to groundwater from the release; and 3) except for the migration of the oil through the drain lines to Clay Pit Pond, there was no off-site migration of the oil from the release in either soil or groundwater.
--Drain manholes between the Burbank School and Clay Pit Pond impacted by the release, as well as the Wellington Brook Culvert, were steam-cleaned using a heated power washer and biodegradable surfactants.
--The Town routinely monitored indoor air quality at the Burbank School throughout the entire response period. There were no indoor air impacts detected due to the release, and the oil did not go under the School.
--All floating oil has been removed from Clay Pit Pond; petroleum-impacted soils and vegetation around the perimeter of the Pond have been removed.
--With the exception of vegetation impacts, which have been mitigated, no other environmental impacts (to fish, waterfowl or other animals) at Clay Pit Pond were observed. The activities at the Pond have been coordinated with and approved by the Conservation Commission.
--There has been no known damage to private property as the result of the release. Public property that was affected consists of the Burbank School property, the Town’s storm drain system, and Clay Pit Pond.
Costs
The Town will spend approximately $1.414 million to respond to the oil release in compliance with state and federal regulations, and is seeking a transfer at the Special Town Meeting to cover these costs. The cost of the clean-up was this high because of the complexity of the release, with the oil affecting three separate sites (the Burbank School, storm drain pipes, and Clay Pit Pond). In addition, severe weather conditions in December and January slowed efforts and made the work more difficult and labor-intensive. The Town continues to pursue claims against its insurance policy, which reportedly has a maximum payment of $250,000 for environmental clean-up. In addition, the Town has engaged special legal counsel, Stephen Anderson, of the firm Anderson & Kreiger, to pursue the Town’s
interests with respect to third-party claims.
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