All that’s left following an August 13th incident involving the accidental discharge of non-toxic soybean oil into the lower Grand River is the paperwork necessary to bill the responsible firm for its mistake.
The incident saw the accidental discharge of 400 to 500 gallons of the non-toxic oil that contaminated roughly two miles of the lower Grand River’s arguably best steelhead fishing section.
The discharge originated from the Erie International Group’s Painesville Township plant located at 679 Hardy Road. This section parallels Fairport-Nursery Road (Ohio Route 535) and was book-ended by Hardy Road and the St. Clair Street bridge in Fairport Harbor Village.
Within this section are the fabled steelhead-fishing hotspots locally referred to as the “Uniroyal Hole” and the “Pipe Bridge Hole.”
Erie International self-reported the incident to authorities at around 6:30 p.m., August 13th. The company’s web site bills itself as “...a ‘green’ company that develops and manufacturers natural animal feed ingredients and specialty chemicals from renewable raw materials.”
An Ohio EPA spokesman said the non-toxic contaminant entered the stream from the plant via a large pipe that lies underneath Fairport-Nursery Road.
The plant draws water from Lake Erie to cool the plant’s heat exchangers. In turn, these heat exchangers cool whatever oil is being processed for further refinement.
“During a cleaning operation, a pump was left on and overflowed a wastewater retention pond, spilling into a ditch, which flowed into a storm drain, and ultimately flowed into the Grand River,” said Anthony Chenault, the Ohio EPA Media Coordinator for the agency’s Northeast, Central and Southeast districts, and shortly after the accidental discharge.
Another 1,000 to 2,000 gallons were discharged onto the ground and recovered at the facility, Chenault said as well.
More recently, Chenault told “Ohio Outdoor News” that the Ohio EPA considers the cleanup to be complete “and the company will continue to monitor the area and recover additional material if necessary.”
“The larger booms across the river have been removed,” Chenault said August 30th.
“(But) the collection booms at the outfall will remain in place to capture any residual material that may discharge from the storm sewer during a rain event.”
No environmental damage to the stream’s fish, wildlife or vegetation was noted.
On August 15th, siphoning of the material was instituted as the Grand River’s current carried the contaminate to the booms where a skimmer and vacuum could extract the contaminant.
Performing the work was Spill Tek Environmental Services of Vermilion.
“Ohio EPA will bill the company to recover costs incurred by the Agency associated with the cleanup – those costs have not yet been determined.,” Chenault said also.
Responding to the incident were various local agencies. These various local agencies and entities are also expected to tabulate their respective costs associated with providing security, assistance, and other expenses and submit their bills to the Erie International Group.
By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
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