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Chemical Spill in Richmond affects Marsh and Shoreline
A chemical spill that entered the marsh and bay at Point Pinole was discovered yesterday afternoon, May 5, 2008. Authorities have determined that 3300 gallons of toluene, an ingredient in common household solvents, was released into the bay as a result of vandalism at a nearby storage tank on private property. The chemical, which can affect fish, wildlife, and humans, has mixed with bay water and advanced beyond the shoreline. Clean up crews are on the scene.
The marsh is habitat for the salt marsh harvest mouse, black rail, and clapper rail. Park District biologists are on site monitoring the situation. California Department of Fish and Game expects that there may be a significant fish kill. Park staff will be looking for and collecting any dead fish found on the Point Pinole shoreline.
At the request of the California Department of Fish and Game, the Park District has closed the area to fishing. Additionally, all park visitors are asked to avoid the shoreline at Point Pinole until authorities deem there is no longer a health threat. Updates will be posted as they occur on this website and also by calling 1-510-544-2201.
Update, Friday, May 9, 2008, 5:00 p.m.:
Cleanup and evaluation of the marsh will continue. On Friday, May 10, the Department of Fish and Game lifted the ban on fishing. Point Pinole fishing, shuttle service to pier, and shorelines are now open.
Update, Wednesday, May 7, 2008, 5:00 p.m.:
Park District staff is responding to the chemical spill that has entered Parchester Marsh, the southern most marsh at Point Pinole. Also on scene is Coast Guard, Fish & Game (Ospr), Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) and Clean Harbors, a contractor hired by the Coast Guard. On Monday, clean up crews were deployed and installed absorbent boom and pads into the channel leading to the Parchester Marsh, just north of the Breuner property. The spill traveled from the end of Morton Street in a channel running parallel to the Southern Pacific RR tracks and north to Parchester Marsh where it entered the bay through a tidal channel. The chemical has mixed with motor oil that was previously dumped into the same channel as part of an illegal historic practice and formed sludge in some areas.
On Tuesday, May 6, three mallard ducks and several dozen fish had been found dead in the channel today. The count is now in the hundreds according to a recent report.
Point Pinole is currently closed to fishing and the shuttle service, which operates mainly to get anglers and equipment out to the pier has ceased operation until further notice.
Update, Tuesday, May 6, 2008, 9:00am:
Sometime over the past weekend, metal scavengers took the valve off a 6,000 gal. above-ground tank containing what was estimated to be 3,300 gallons of the chemical solvent tolulene. The contents of the tank spilled into a drainage on Morton Ave. next to Parchester Village in Richmond. The spill was noticed by the business owner around 8:45 a.m. on Monday, May 5. It was reported to the Fish & Game Office of Spill Prevention & Response (OSPR), and the Coast Guard. The toluene apparently mixed with oil and water in the channel next to the business and formed a sludge that has made its way out to the Bay.
A shelter-in-place order was sent out around 2 p.m. for the residents and businesses in the area. The Contra Costa Haz Mat crew took air samples and determined that the level of solvent in the air was well below the legal limits and the order was lifted. The Park District was notified of the spill around 3:30 p.m. We responded with Fire Department and Park Operations staff and the District’s helicopter unit.
Unified Command (Coast Guard, Fish & Game OSPR, and the Reaction Products) has contracted with Clean Harbors to begin the cleanup. They have placed absorbent booms in the channel in several locations between the spill and the Bay. They have also sucked up approximately 3,000 gallons of the water, oil, and water mix. The channel is approximately 2,500 feet long, with several minor side channels feeding into Bruener Marsh. Clean Harbors crews found evidence of the sludge in the side channels but has not made it out to the end of these channels, so it may not have dispersed widely into the Marsh.
A command post has been established at Parchester Community Center on Wilson Ave.