Bronx River Education

Bronx River Oil Spill

November 20, 2009

The below was reported on 11.9.09 and posted today. The follow ups will be posted immediately.
Water that ran clear just a few days ago now wears an iridescent skin. On Wednesday, November 4th 2009, a fire at a Con Edison plant in Yonkers over a mile from the Bronx River allowed an estimated 2,000 gallons of oil to spill into the sewers which then carried it directly into the river. What it means for life in and around the river at the present moment and into the future is not yet clear. Some information, however, may be of interest.
The fire occurred in the Dunwoodie plant on Smart and Marcos Avenues in Yonkers at 8:30 in the morning. A 345 kilovolt power transformer caught fire due to unexplained causes. Transformers of this sort are filled with adielectric insulating oil that serves to ensure that the voltage stays in the coils. The tank ruptured either before or because of the fire and some 30,000 gallons of mineral oil spilled onto the facility floor. Con Edison believes that the majority of the mineral oil burned off in the fire. Mineral oil has a higher combustion heat level than its re-ignition level so it does not self extinguish. This trait meant that the fire department had to use a large amount of material to try to put the fire out. This material (foam?) combined with the oil from the transformer then overflowed the transformer’s mandatory spill containment area and the oil entered the storm sewers which then provided a direct route for the oil to flow to the river over a mile away. Con Edison contacted the NYSDEC and the DEP immediately to get cleanup efforts started, and the Alliance was informed of the event.
The earliest estimates of the amount were purported to be around 150 gallons, but that estimate has continued to grow. Measuring a fluid in a container is not that difficult, but measuring a fluid that is floating on top of another and flowing down stream is quite a different task. Dr. Paul Mankiewitz offered that it may be possible to calculate an estimate if one knows the molecular weight and to what thickness the oil would spread on top of the water. Then, using the measurements of width of the spill as it flows down the river at a calculated flow rate and some form of documentation such as filming the spill as it passed under a given point until it finished, a volume measure could be calculated. At this time it is unknown if any such measures were taken or how the calculations are being made.
Visual descriptions of the oil vary depending on the site, but range from viscous, dark oil, to a creamy white material on the surface to a multicolored sheen that spreads across the river when struck by the sun. Close observation shows that the oil can present though not seen as the surface of the water gains and unfamiliar regularity, like a barely noticeable fog. Eddies in the water allow for more oil to regroup and often show the more viscous properties.
Through Con Edison contacts and eyewitness reports it was learned that different types of booms were placed across the river at various points. There are two types of booms that could be used and these
Figure 1 Possible transformer example
are solid booms and soft or sorbent booms. The solid boom many of us are familiar with as it is similar to the boom that stretches across the river at Concrete Plant Park, with a floatation device on the top and a flap or a fin that sticks down into the water. As the oil flows downstream, it will flow up against the boom and, if placed correctly, be diverted into a slower moving part of the river for collection. NOAA guidelines state that using a boom at 90 degrees across a body of water, as is the boom in the tidal section which is meant to catch floatables, moving more that 0.5 meters per second would not be efficient as the oil would be forced to the center of the stream and accumulation under flow would force more oil down into the water and allowing it to escape below the boom.
Figure 2 Booms at 211th street
The second type of boom was referred to as a soft or sorbent boom, possibly known as a sorbent rope which is what it resembles. These ropes are not meant to catch and contain the oil like the solid booms, but to absorb the oil as it encounters it. They have no flap that extends down into the water. The fabric in the rope, which is about six inches in diameter, is hydrophobic ( it doesn’t like water) so it does not absorb water, and oleophyllic (it likes oil), so it does absorb oil. As the flow reaches these ropes, theoretically only the oil is absorbed and, when saturated, it must be carefully removed from the river and replaced. Like a rag, if squeezed when saturated, the oil may be released. The ropes float on top of the water, slowly sinking as they fill with oil, and can only catch what encounters the rope at the surface. Any debris that gathers before the rope may allow the oil to be forced down under the boom without touching the sorbent material. Video is available of this process.
There have been booms placed in Yonkers as well as in the Bronx in Muskrat cove, 229th and 211th streets, Gun Hill road, Allerton ave. (Kazmiroff) and points farther downstream. Most of these were sorbent booms but yesterday, Saturday November 7th , several more solid booms had been put in place.
Crews from Con Edison and representatives from the NYSDEC have been observed along the river inspecting the booms and conducting clean up. At 211th street, the crews have begun to vacuum up debris that may be tainted with the oil. The latest cleanup may include sweeping all leaf mater into the river and vacuuming it out for recycling and disposal.

The spill and its aftermath still have many questions yet to be answered. Those of us that use the river everyday for studies and or recreation are concerned for the long term effects. Mineral oil, the most spilled oil in the U.S., does not have any clear documentation of its hazards to wildlife in such events. Searches for research turn up scant responses and no information has been provided. Most of the hazard studies found were for long term human contact. Water fowl have been observed in the Botanical Garden and in points north in some form of discomfort or distress due, apparently, to the encounters with the oil. The mallards along Bronx Park at about 221st street were paddling in obviously oily water and feeding through the surface to get at the algae on the bottom. At Kazimiroff Bridge, a kingfisher flew up river. King fisher’s feed by dipping there beaks directly into the water as they skim the surface. They certainly will ingest the oil directly. Dissolved Oxygen levels as of Friday did not appear to be directly affected as of yet, but there may be long term concerns. The oil on the surface reflects more sunlight than the water and will not allow it to penetrate the plant on the bottom, if in fact they are still active at this time of year, and the oil has also reduced the amount of ripples that may serve to introduce O2 into the water. The old saying of oil calming troubled water can be clearly seen on the river at this time, but that is not a positive thought. Another issue is macroinvertebrate life, the food source for many aquatic animals and birds and the judge of the health of a river. The oil may affect them directly, but the clean up may more so. The vacuuming up of leaf matter may also be taking macorinvertebrates with it, and is certainly reducing the food source from the river which is decomposing leaf matter. All of this remains to be seen but must be followed closely.
But a discussion about why this happened at all will need to be had as well. Below is an example from a Con Edison proposal for a power plant placement:
Power transformers will also be provided with dielectric fluid containment pits to contain any
leakage, along with water separators to process minor dielectric fluid leaks, in compliance with
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations and the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations,
1 This information is being provided in response to the PSC interrogatory request DPS #32, Part 10.
Exhibit E-2 – Other Facilities
February 2008
Page 10
\\epserver\Jobs\P252-000 NYRI\P252-009 Article VII Rev\Exhibits\Exhibit E-2_Other Facilities\Exhibit E-2_FINAL_1-15-08.doc
Title 40 (CFR 40), Parts 110 and 112. These regulations require that appropriate containment
and diversionary structures be provided to prevent discharged fluids from reaching navigable
waters, if a facility reasonably could be expected to discharge fluids in harmful quantities into or
upon said navigable waterways.
Transformer containment pits for dielectric fluid will be designed in accordance with Factory
Mutual Standard 5-4/14-8 Transformers, the Edison Electric Institute Fire Protection for
Transformers, IEEE Standard 980 Guide for Containment and Control of Oil Spills in Substations,
and recommendations from the converter station manufacturer.
It is reasonable to assume that Con Edison provided such a containment area for this transformer, but the regulations only call for a container large enough to hold the oil from one transformer and average precipitation in the area. Obviously a fire department hose, applying foam or water, is much more than the average rainfall making the regulation possibly in adequate. As for the secondary containment area, could it be that, at a mile and a half from the river the assumption was that river contact was minimal?

That leads to the next question which has to do with storm drains. In August of this year the NYs Attorney General approved funding for storm water reduction upgrades:
New York AG Pours $1.8M into Bronx River Stormwater Upgrades
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2009/2009-08-28-092.asp
Some of the work focuses on storm water reduction close to the river, but this issue makes it clear that the sewer shed of the Bronx River is much larger than its banks. The problem with the storm drains is not in any way a surprise as can be witnessed at the storm drain that enters the Bronx River from Yonkers at Nereid Ave. and has been discussed for several years, but his event makes it clear that the remediation needs to occur at a faster pace.
While that issue is municipal, the progress of the cleanup is also a local, community issue. While the cleanup is progressing and work can be seen at multiple sites. It is important for larger agencies, organizations and corporations to understand that those of us that are not just facts on the ground but feet in the river may be a vital resource to the cleanup itself, even if regulations make it difficult for the community to get down on its hands and knees and soak up the oil with sorbent sheets. Much as the cleanup crews have been divided into zones, local organizations and individuals have information on the micro level that can help the larger scale agencies get to affected areas more efficiently. If we plot the booms and efforts on a map, a future project, we can see can see that the placement focused around bridges that cross the river rather than the shape and flow of the river itself. We provided unsolicited information about a certain area, a boulder vane just north of Burke Bridge where a large quantity of oil had gathered, and this local response allowed the larger crew to soak up an undisclosed amount of oil before it eventually seeped around the boulders and farther down river. Con Ed thanked us for this input. Bronx International students also gathered GPS data and observations which were provided to the DEC to aid in the efforts, but it is unclear if this data was of any help. Some encounters in the field were met with “We will handle it,” but others were thankful and made remarks to the effect that the information and local knowledge could be very useful in the efforts. Community involvement may help the immediate effort, but will surely help the long term goals of all.
This event is still very much in progress. It is up to all of us to look at the issue as closely as possible to monitor and aid in the present efforts, the long and short term affect on the river, and follow the review of events to ensure that this sort of event does not happen again.
Damian Griffin

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized. Tags: Bronx, bronx river, bronx river oil spill, Damian Griffin, oil, oil spill.