Within the span of about one month, a second Lake County stream noted for its steelhead fisheries experienced a pollution event.
On September 7th the Chagrin River was the scene of a pollution spill, though no environmental damage was reported.
A September 8th, an Ohio EPA release did say that a “Mishandling of a petroleum distillate (oil) and wastewater mixture allowed the material to discharge to a storm sewer that led to the river. The spill (was) estimated to contain less than 80 gallons of oil and 800 gallons or less of wastewater.”
This storm sewer is located directly in front of Apollo Parkway in Willoughby and empties into the Chagrin River. The drain likewise is opposite the city’s Gilson Park.
Willoughby’s Gilson Park area is one of the lower Chagrin River’s most popular and accessible steelhead fishing sites. It also sits upstream from Lake Metroparks’ Chagrin River Park which straddles the Willoughby-Eastlake line, and is itself one of the most heavily used publicly accessible steelhead angling sites.
Responsible was Cortest, Inc., 38322 Apollo Parkway. The firm’s web site says of itself “Founded in 1977, CORTEST, INC. has an extensive history of providing laboratory equipment for corrosion and materials testing...”
Among the clients listed on the firm’s web site are BP, Shell, ExonMobile, Sherman Williams, and GE Global Research.
Cortest declined an inquiry from “Ohio Outdoor News” to respond to the incident.
However, Anthony Chenault, the Ohio EPA’s Media Coordinator for the agency’s Northeast, Central and Southeast Districts, said “According to the company, the discharge was associated with the testing of a newly fabricated piece of equipment.”
“Some of the material - similar to kerosene - was not drained prior to the rinsing of the separator,” Chenault said.
The Ohio EPA did issue a notice of violation to Cortest, Inc., for the incident, also said agency spokeswoman, Dina Pierce.
Pierce said a notice of violation means that the responsible party is notified that it has violated Ohio law which prohibits any unauthorized discharge into any waters of the state.
Generally, a fine is not included though the responsible party must pay for the subsequent clean-up, stop any further discharge, and take steps to ensure such a release does not reoccur, Pierce said as well.
In some cases, agencies and governments can similarly submit to the responsible party their respective, associated costs related to responding to an event.
Willloughby Fire Department Chief Todd Ungar told “Ohio Outdoor News” that his agency was informed of the incident around noon, September 7th.
The Cortest incident, though, was not self-reported by the company as was the case for an accidental discharge of non-toxic vegetable-based oil into the Grand River on August 13th.
“We received a call from a visitor at Chagrin River Park who said a sheen was seen on the water there, but you had to look just so in order to see the oil,” Ungar said of the Chagrin River incident.
Ungar said, too, that once the city determined the fluid posed no combustible danger, his force worked with the Lake County Hazmat Team and Eastlake Technical Rescue Team to help contain the pollutant.
To that end, a small pollution containment boom was placed in front of the storm water culvert. This boom was removed September 9th.
A second boom was stretched across the Chagrin River a few miles downstream. This 350-foot boom was placed at the very northerly end of Eastake’s Woodland Park – another popular public access site for steelhead anglers. It was removed September 8th.
“That boom was placed as a precaution just in case any residual oil made its way downstream,” Ungar said.
As previously mentioned, the Chagrin River event follows the August 13th self-reported incident involving an accidental release of 400 to 500 gallons of vegetable-based oil into the lower Grand River. That incident contaminated roughly two miles of the lower Grand River’s arguably best steelhead fishing section.
The August 13th 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.
By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
