 |
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Two Years After, Spill Site Still At RiskADP Investigates Snyder Brothers 2008 Oil Spill Sites; Finds Valves Still Unlocked and Evidence of More Spills By Cathy Pedler, Forest Watch Coordinator
On FR 267 at the tank battery, and gravel pit near Hemlock Run, ADP noted a recent spill or seepage from what appeared to be a newly expanded or repaired dike. The dike construction, which is used throughout the Allegheny is clearly ineffective at what it is intended to do: contain oil and brine from the tank facility. How many more examples does the DEP need to
Photos from FR 267 and FR 269 Below
Above: Pooling Oil at Snyder Brothers Oil Company Tank Farm on FR 269 in Indian Run Watershed
Above: Pooling Oil and Sub-Standard Fix For Leak at Snyder Brothers Oil Company Tank Farm on FR 269 in Indian Run Watershed
Above: Sub-Standard Fix at Snyder Brothers Oil Company Tank Farm on FR 269 in Indian Run Watershed
|
|
|
|
A team of Allegheny Defense Project (ADP) volunteers discovered that all is not well on FR 267 and FR 269, the sites of a major oil spill two years ago. At these sites, disgruntled former employees of Snyder Brothers, Inc. let loose more than 40,000 gallons of oil that fouled Indian Run, Chappel Fork Creek, and the Allegheny River Reservoir. On May 22, 2010 ADP staff, board, and volunteers visited the sites involved in the spill, observed that the there have been subsequent dike breeches, and that the valves on the same tank batteries that were tampered with in 2008 are still unlocked two years later. 
enter (which apparently has happened at the Snyder Brothers site pictured here). The tank battery dikes are filled with gravel. For oil to pool as it is in the photos here th
see before they change the construction requirements? The dikes should atleast be impermeable (bottom and side) and be extensive enough to hold the total volume of the tanks within the dike. On FR 267 The Snyder Brothers are also using the Forest Service roadways and Stone Pits as storage facilities for their drilling equipment. There are plenty of private surface in-holdings within the ANF boundary. Private oil companies must rent or buy storage facilities instead of taking and fouling the surface property of the citizens of the United States (see photos below).
The sign in the photo on the left is posted at the Snyder Brothers tank battery site. The sign cites Federal Law, 33 USC Section 1319, which "makes it illegal to discharge any pollutant (including Petroleum or hazardous substances) into any navigable water of the United States in Violation of the provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act and such conduct is punishable by fines of up to 3 years for the first offense." We strongly urge the U.S. Forest Service, the Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission to apply the protections afforded under the Federal Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law to the Snyder Brothers Oil Company drilling developments on FR 267 and FR 269 in the Indian Run, Chappel Fork Creek and Allegheny River watersheds. The U.S. Forest Service, the Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission must apply the protections afforded under the Federal Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law to the Snyder Brothers Oil Company drilling developments on FR 267 and FR 269 in the Indian Run, Chappel Fork Creek and Allegheny River watersheds.
|