March 27 Update on Denbury Resources (Responsible Party or RP), EPA, and Other Agency Response Efforts:
The Responsible Party (RP) continues to recover oil from it facility and in several oil containment/collection locations along Horsepen Bayou. Oil is being recovered from these locations with drum skimmers, vacuum trucks, and absorbent pads. EPA has not observed free standing oil past the intersection of Horsepen Bayou and Space Center Blvd, which is the RP's furthest containment and collection point. The RP estimates that 40 barrels of crude oil and 2000 barrels of saltwater released from their facility and EPA estimates that 10-15
barrels of crude oil made entry into Horsepen Bayou. An estimate of the amount of saltwater that made entry into Horsepen Bayou is currently unknown. Around 1115 barrels of fluids consisting of crude oil, salt water, water from Horsepen Bayou, and rainwater has been recovered so far. According to the RP, most of the recovered fluids are salt water, but the exact ratio of recovered fluid constituents is unknown. As of March 26, EPA estimates that 1-2 barrels of crude oil remains in Horsepen Bayou. The RP has constructed an earthen berm on the drainage pathway between the facility and Horsepen Bayou in an effort to prevent additional fluids from running off into the bayou in case there is a rain event.
Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPW) and the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) are also responding to the incident. The TRC directed Denbury Resources to conduct sampling in Horsepen
Bayou to better understand how the saltwater which was released into the bayou
has affected its salinity. The current salinity of Horsepen
Bayou exceeds the TRC acceptable limit, so they will continue to provide
oversight of Denbury Resource’s efforts to address saltwater impacts.
The TPW is also responding to this incident and is working with Denbury
Resource’s wildlife response contractor to install hazing flags along Horsepen
Bayou to deter birds away from the heavily impacted portions of the Bayou, as
well as collect dead fish to prevent wildlife from consuming and being
attracted to the spill area. Several fish, two unidentified
amphibians, one owl, and one softshell turtle have perished due to impacts from this spill.
Planned activities:
The RP will continue recovery operations at the facility and at the various containment and collection points along Horsepen Bayou on a 24-hour basis until deemed appropriate. EPA will continue to remotely provide oversight of the RP's oil response efforts and will receive daily updates from the RP, TPW, and TRC. EPA will return to the site to conduct a final site inspection once all recoverable oil has been collected. The purpose of EPA's final site inspection will be to verify that the RP has collected all recoverable oil from Horsepen Bayou and has mitigated the threat of additional oil making
entry into Horsepen Bayou. The TPW and TRC will continue to remain on-site. The TPW will provide oversight of the RP's wildlife response efforts, and the TRC will provide oversight of the RP's oil/saltwater response and remediation efforts.
Key issues:
There are no issues to report.