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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 27, 2000
00-070
Contacts: Sandy Howard, Department of Ecology, 360-407-6239OLYMPIA - Spill-response experts who worked through the night are confident the estimated 2,000 to 5,000 gallons of waste oil spilled at a Lewis County farm Tuesday night will not get into the Chehalis River.
Today, the state departments of Fish & Wildlife and Ecology (Ecology) are organizing teams to comb Lincoln Creek to assess the damage to fish, wildlife and the environment.
"This is a significant spill for such a small of a creek," said Dick Logan, who does resource-damage assessment for Ecology. "The creek has coho salmon and steelhead trout. At this time of the year, fry are hatching."
The creek has received a great deal of restoration work that has included streamside revegetation, fencing to keep livestock out of the creek, and off-channel habitat development. However, the area affected by the spill has received no restoration work.
The spill is worst in a 1.5-mile stretch of Lincoln Creek below the farm, which is about 10 miles upstream from the Chehalis River.
Spill responders' oil booms and naturally occurring log booms and oxbows in the creek have helped curb the floating oil.
"The main problem with waste oil is that it is toxic and it lasts a long time in the environment," Logan said. "It can suffocate fish, and it can get onto feathers and fur and be deadly to wildlife."
Most waste oil is used motor oil. It can contain multiple ingredients, all toxic to the environment.
The spill occurred Tuesday night when waste oil leaked from a chicken farm owned by Jerry Reiger on Buck Road west of Centralia. Reiger used the waste oil to heat his chicken barns.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
