This article was originally published in The Examiner on Oct. 6, 2016.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Cleanup efforts are starting after last week’s chemical spill off Highway 90 just outside of Beaumont.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality says that 1,066 gallons of Uniarom TX, a heavy aromatics solvent with naphthalene, was released into the Willow Marsh Bayou on Sept 23.
“A couple of water snakes, some fish and amphibians” are part of the affected wildlife discovered so far,” explained Steve Lightfoot, spokesperson for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The completed report on the damage is not yet available, but Lightfoot hopes it will be released next week.
The spill originated from the GE Betz plant.
“Water samples for volatile organics were collected from four sites along the Willow Marsh Bayou on Sept. 23 and sent to laboratory for analysis,” said Andrew Keese, spokesperson for TCEQ. “A 30 minute air canister sample was collected from East Lane on Sept. 24.”
“All free-standing material has been removed from the bayou,” Keese said. “There is no visible sheen on the water.”
TPWD’s Kills and Spills Team, a group of environmental biologists, is collecting water samples and an assessment of injured and affected animals in Willow Marsh Bayou.
“The vapors were strong on the sections of the creek where it happened,” Lightfoot said, which delayed the assessment process.
The team will be evaluating short and long-term impacts of the spill, which will be released in the report.
OMI Environmental Solutions is conducting the cleanup. OMI is surveying the bayou daily and conducting air monitoring.
OMI placed absorbent booms in the bayou to prevent any sheen from occurring, and will be collecting confirmation soil samples to make sure cleanup operations successful.
Eleanor Skelton 