Red Butte Creek oil spill

Red Butte Creek is an urban stream that is heavily controlled by dams and reservoirs. It flows through natural channels, urban parks (including the lake in Liberty Park), and buried culverts, emptying into the Jordan River.[2] Oil began spewing from the pipeline sometime around 10 pm local time that Friday in the vicinity of Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City. Several hours after detection of pressure reduction in the line, the broken pipe was discovered flowing 50 to 60 US gallons (190 to 230 L; 42 to 50 imp gal) of oil per minute into the Red Butte Creek. Roughly 800 barrels (33,600 gallons) of oil were released, approximately 400 were recovered on land, and 400 entered into the creek.[3] Crews contained the flow before it was able to reach the Great Salt Lake. Three miles of the creek were significantly oiled and required cleanup treatment.[2] Oil began spewing from the pipeline sometime around 10 pm local time that Friday in the vicinity of Red Butte Garden in Salt Lake City. Residents were immediately warned to stay away from Red Butte Canyon, and Liberty Park was shut down for the day.[1] Clean up efforts were conducted by the Chevron Corporation along with the city of Salt Lake's Fire Department, Police Department, and Public Utilities Department.[4] Crews used absorbent booms and created dams to contain the majority of the spill.[1] Utilizing many oilfield service companies, including 221 personnel, two-thirds of the total spill was recovered within the first week of the rupture. Affected wildlife were transported to Hogle Zoo for treatment. As of 9 September 2010 a total of 778 of the 800 barrels were accounted for through recovery from water, soil removal, and evaporation.[3] It is worth noting that this spill occurred amidst the responses to the BP Deepwater Horizon and the Kalamazoo River spill. The Red Butte Creek spill received reduced attention despite it being one of the largest to occur in Region 8 in some time.[2] In addition, the proximity of permanent residences leads to a greater potential impact on public health in the area.[2]

Red Butte Creek in Salt Lake City, Utah is a narrow rocky creek between City Creek to the north and Emigration Creek to the south. It is divided into two parts by the Red Butte Gardens, namely Upper Butte Creek and Lower Butte Creek. Lower Red Butte Creek passes through urban areas and discharges into Liberty Park Lake at Liberty Park. This portion of the creek was affected by the spill. One of the Lower Creek's functions is as an urban stormwater conveyance system.[5] The Red Butte Reservoir regulates the flow of Lower Butte Creek. High flow instances affect the distribution of chemicals as well as biotic communities within the creek.[5] Approximately 50 to 86 percent of the soils lining the banks of Red Butte have severe erosion potential.[5]

The most common trees along the streamside are box elder and cottonwood as well as the Siberian elm, which was an introduced invasive species.[5] Canopy cover is generally high, but it is visibly reduced in the lower urban areas.[5] Common shrub species include red osier dogwood, twinberry honeysuckle, and narrow leaf willow with Woods' rose common on upper portions of slopes.[5]

A managed population of native Bonneville cutthroat trout inhabits the Upper Red Butte Creek while there are no reports of the Lower Butte Creek supporting a fishery (aside from the few trout likely stocked by residents for fishing).[5] In the affected area more than 30 different species of birds have been observed along with deer, raccoon, and skunk along the urban creek bed.[5]

The CPL is primarily responsible for the cleanup efforts of the Red Butte Creek area. The company has expended approximately $26,886,000 as of July 31, 2011, on remediation efforts.[6] A huge concern of the cleanup effort was that it be done correctly. Removing oil can create a multitude of problems if it is not handled properly. Oil forced into the creek beds and soils can destroy the natural habitat that a host of wildlife depends on.[1] The substance also affects waterfowl's natural water resilience and can contaminate algae, which is eaten by the animals and fish in the stream.[1] Chevron sent in an investigation team from Houston and a special hotline has been set up to field complaints and questions from residents.[1]

While the Red Butte Creek oil spill has had severe environmental effects on areas of Salt Lake City, another oil spill occurred in December of the same year.[6] The damages from both spills were assessed and Chevron agreed to a settlement payout of $4.5 million.[6] The breakdown of this payment is as follows: The City of Salt Lake: $508,000, The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ): $462,853, The University of Utah: $1,304,000, Liberty Park Lake: expenditure of $2,300,000 for restoration, third parties: $929,000, civil penalty to PHMSA: $424,000, and mitigation of wildlife impacts: $100,000.[6]

Concern over the reoccurrence of an environmental disaster of this magnitude left some questioning the regulation of all Utah pipelines.[9] A report was commissioned by Salt Lake City and released by the nonprofit, national Pipeline Safety Trust.[9] Presentation of this report occurred on Wednesday, September 12 from 5:15 – 6:30 p.m. at the Chase Mill at Tracy Aviary.[10] Mayor Becker invited the public to listen to Carl Weimer, Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety Trust in Bellingham, Washington present his findings and recommendations for the area.[10]

The report claimed that state and federal regulators could do more to ensure pipeline safety. It calls for oil companies to be more forthcoming in regards to pipeline operations and inspections.[9] In addition, municipalities can take more responsibility in training first responders in case of such an event. The report places most of the blame on the state of Utah itself. The report reads, "Although the federal government is responsible for setting minimum pipeline safety standards, Utah can adopt additional or stricter safety standards."[11] Suggestions for the state legislature include expanding state authority to incorporate all hazardous liquid pipelines and interstate gas transmissions, creating a citizen pipeline safety advisory committee to work with the pipeline industry and regulators on a regular basis, and require excavators and underground utility operators to report all incidents of damage to a pipeline to the Division of Public Utilities.[11] In addition to state legislature improvement, local governments in the Salt Lake Valley could adopt recommendations regarding planning near pipelines from Pipelines and Informed Planning Alliance (PIPA) Report to include at minimum a consultation zone and inclusion of transmission pipelines on planning and zoning maps, ensure emergency response teams have the required equipment, information and training to respond in case of a pipeline emergency, and develop an evacuation plan should an emergency occur.[11] Many improvements to the system are suggested in the report, as there is high probability of another pipeline failure in Utah. From 2002-2011 there were 10 reported incidents of failure in the pipeline systems.[11]

In addition to the public report Salt Lake City held a two-hour "Pipeline 101" workshop along with a two-day pipeline safety conference.[10] Chevron looked into the possibility of rerouting the pipeline that was built in the 1950s.[12] The reroute would take the pipeline outside the city limits, but its placement would them be on more rugged terrain. In addition, if a break in the pipeline did occur there would be limited access to mend it.[12] The pipeline is not shut down forever. A 24-hour test under high-pressure conditions deemed it usable. Chevron is going to let the oil flow once again through the Red Butte Creek area.[13]

• List of oil spills
• List of pipeline accidents in the United States in the 21st century