April 24

WA Department of Ecology: Hydraulic fluid spilled into Elliott Bay Friday now contained

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Yesterday morning, Friday, April 23, a Shred-it truck spilled hydraulic fluid at 401 Elliott Ave. W. near Myrtle Edwards Park, some of which made it into a nearby storm drain and the bay itself. According to a report by the Washington Department of Ecology, the truck, which held up to 160 gallons of hydraulic fluid, called NRC Environmental Services (a cleanup contractor) at 10:50 a.m. on Frida when a broken hydraulic line spilled fluid all over the ground. From the Washington Department of Ecology:

NRC was able to collect some of the fluid from the ground, but the majority of the spill apparently had already made it to the storm drain.

Ecology wasn’t notified until about 2 p.m. By then, a 300-foot-long patchy, silvery sheen was seen on the water along the shoreline at Myrtle Edwards Park near the grain terminal.

Ecology and NRC put oil containment and absorbent boom around the outfall and a nearby fish pen. NRC monitored the area and maintained the boom overnight.

The Suquamish tribe and Muckleshoot Indian tribe operate the fish pen, and according to Ecology, checked the pens Friday and reported that they appeared to be unharmed by the spill.

Ecology ran dye tests to time the flow from two storm drains in the area to the outfall. The dye took 20 to 40 minutes to reach the water.

All oil spills cause environmental damage, regardless of size. Oil is toxic to the environment and the damage starts as soon as the oil hits water. A single quart of oil has the potential to foul more than 100,000 gallons of water.

Hydraulic fluid spreads out and evaporates more slowly than diesel fuel or gasoline, and it remains in the environment longer.

Ecology believes that some of the hydraulic oil from the spill could still be in a nearby building’s stormwater detention system and plans to talk to engineers about this. However, they believes that most of the fluid from the spill drained directly into the bay, dissipating before responders were notified.


Tags

Elliott Bay, hydraulic fluid spill, Myrtle Edwards Park, oil spill, Washington Department of Ecology


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