Weyerhaeuser Oil Tank Breach
(Information on this site is considered to be accurate at the time of posting, but is subject to change as new information becomes available.)


Over-flight view of incident site, Weyerhaeuser Longview pulp mill.
Taken by: Dick Logan, Washington State Department of Ecology
Date:08/26/04


Crews working to clean-up spill, Weyerhaeuser Longview pulp mill.
Taken by: Andrea Unger, Washington State Department of Ecology
Date:08/26/04

Summary Information 

Date of Incident:  
About 11:55 pm on Wednesday August 25, 2004

Location:  
Weyerhaeuser Longview Facility, 3401 Industrial Way, Longview, WA .

Product/Quantity:
270,900 gallons of Bunker C oil has been released to secondary containment. Oil has not been observed outside of secondary containment and no oil has been observed on the Columbia River.

Cause:  
A detailed Investigation by the Department of Ecology is underway. Initial reports are that -   the spill was caused when a contractor’s front-end loader broke a pipe connected to a 1.47 million gallon bunker-oil storage tank. At the time of the incident, the storage tank contained 882,000 gallons of oil.

 

News Releases

For more information, media may call:
Sandy Howard - Washington Department of Ecology 360 - 407-6239
pager - 360-786-3136

Jackie Lang, Weyerhaeuser, 360-636-6812; cell, 503-705-0007

Photographs

Maps/Aerial View

Other Sources

 

 

  

Update -
For more information see the 08/27 press-release

State and federal agencies at an industrial oil spill in Longview are now classifying the situation as a non-emergency, although agencies continue to monitor containment of the oil and cleanup efforts.

The spill continues to be completely contained with no harm to the Columbia River and no injuries, according to Sandy Howard of the Washington Department of Ecology.

Howard said the oil is being slowly pumped from the damaged tank system into nearby storage containers.

“We are in slow, steady and safe mode, which means our work here could extend through the weekend,” Howard said. “Our strategy right now is to keep people safe while we drain the oil tank and begin to recycle the oil back in to the mill’s production process.”

The oil spill is contained inside an earthen dike that acts as a catch basin in the event of an oil spill.

 

Initial Summary

At about midnight, Wednesday, August 25th, a bobcat loader struck a 1.47 million gallon bunker-oil storage tank at Weyerhaeuser’s Longview plant.  

At the time of the incident, the storage tank contained 882,000 gallons of bunker C oil.  As of 4:00 p.m., Thursday, August 26th, the source had not been contained, and approx. 270,900 gallons of oil has been released to secondary containment.

Oil has not been observed outside of secondary containment and no oil has been observed on the Columbia River. Cleanup is actively underway, pumping oil from secondary containment into storage.

Representatives from Ecology, EPA, USCG, are on scene overseeing response operations.