Monday, June 24, 2013

UPDATED 6-26-13: Unknown Fluid Spill in Sugar Run, Doddridge County, WV

UPDATE - June 26, 2013: The National Response Center report has finally appeared in the system (OIL: CRUDE IN UNNAMED CREEK NEAR OXFORD, WV 2013-06-24). Clean-up crews have arrived, and eyewitnesses report ~5 tanker trucks of waste have been removed, but absorbent pads and booms still need to be removed and disposed of properly. Doddridge County Watershed Association (DCWA) reports that the leak is from an old tank associated with a conventional oil well drilled in the 1970's, but have not ruled out that nearby unconventional drilling activity could have contributed to the spill.

For photos of the incident and clean-up, visit DCWA's facebook photo album: Sugar Run Spill.

ORIGINAL ALERT: Our friends at the Doddridge County Watershed Association (DCWA) are investigating a spill of unknown material in Sugar Run. While the color is similar to acid mine drainage (AMD), there is a limited legacy of mining in this part of WV and this kind of orange gel has been spilled in the area before (Buckeye Creek - August 2009). DCWA report that the spill is at least 3-4 days old.


The spill has reportedly been called in to the National Response Center (NRC), but we do not have a SkyTruth Alert for it yet:

Contaminant in Sugar Run - from Doddridge County Watershed Association 

See more of their groundtruthing here: Sugar Run Spill

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