Drinking water safe after diesel fuel spill on Ohio

NEW RICHMOND - Officials say Greater Cincinnati's drinking water is safe after 5,000 to 8,000 gallons of diesel spilled into the Ohio River on Monday during a routine transfer at Duke Energy's W.C. Beckjord Station in New Richmond.

Cleanup crews have set up three stations between the plant and Coney Island, where they are sucking oil off the water, said Steve Renninger, an on-scene coordinator of the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5.

Crews had cleaned up about 750 gallons by 4 p.m.

The spill was discovered after 11 p.m. and was stopped by 11:30 p.m., said Duke spokeswoman Sally Thelen.

"We have mechanisms for overflow valves," Thelen said. "We are still investigating the exact cause, but what we do feel may have happened was one of the valves was opened, which caused them to overflow."

Thelen said the spill most likely resulted from human error, but added the company is still investigating.

Both Thelen and Renninger declined to answer questions about the cost of the cleanup and spill during a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

Greater Cincinnati Water Works and the Northern Kentucky Water District shut down intake valves shortly after midnight. Cincinnati waterworks Director Tony Parrott said reserves were near capacity and the agency will be able to remain operating with the river intakes closed for some time.

The drinking water is safe, Parrott said.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Mark Nemec with the Cincinnati Marine Safety Detachment classified the incident as a medium-sized spill, which includes inland spills between 1,000 and 10,000 gallons.

The Coast Guard briefly closed a 15-mile stretch of the Ohio River from river mile marker 453, where the spill occurred, to mile marker 468.

Peter Tennant, executive of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission, said this sort of spill occurs every few years.

"This one is of major concern because of where it happened. Anytime something happens upstream from a water intake, it is of major concern," Tennant said.

"You don't want to take chances with people's health."

Keeping motor vessel traffic out of the area is key, Tennant added, because it prevents the moving of the diesel fuel, which is sitting on the surface of the water, into the water intakes, which are below the surface.

Officials at the 4 p.m. press conference said they would continue working into Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to clean up the spill.

Cincinnati waterworks officials are sampling and analyzing the water, waiting for the spill to move through the area so they can reopen the intakes. Jeff Swertfeger, superintendent of water quality for Greater Cincinnati Water Works, said the samples were looking pretty good by noon Tuesday, and the odor of fuel had begun to dissipate.

The Northern Kentucky Water District issued a statement saying it shut down its Ohio River intakes when it was notified of the incident at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.

It plans to draw water from its reservoirs as long as possible. If it does need to reopen the intakes, which is unlikely, it is capable of treating the water in a way that will rid it of the oil.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is working with the U.S. Coast Guard, local officials and private sector contractors to clean up the spill.

Officials originally calculated that about 8,000 gallons of fuel spilled into the river, but once the sun came up, the estimation was lowered.

Beckjord Station is located in Clermont County, about 20 miles east of Cincinnati. It has operated for about 60 years and is scheduled to close by 2015.

Thelen said the spill was unrelated to the eventual closure of the plant. New EPA standards, known as the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT), must be implemented by 2015. Rather than spend the hundreds of millions of dollars it would take to upgrade Beckjord Station, Duke is closing it, according to its website.

No spills have been reported at Beckjord Station recently, Thelen said.

Jack Karnes, who has lived in California near the river since 1939, said he's never seen a spill on the river like this, but he knew exactly what it was when he smelled the oil Tuesday morning.

"I hauled oil for 10 years," he said. "I knew what it was."

Dave Palanci, who lives off Beacon Street in Anderson Township, said he also smelled the oil when he woke up Tuesday.

"I knew what it was, but I didn't know where it was coming from," Palanci said. "You knew what it was as soon as you smelled it."

The Northern Kentucky Water District starting pumping water from the Ohio River at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.

Richard Harrison, vice president of engineering, production and distribution for the district, said no diesel fuel was found in samples conducted by officials all Tuesday.