Update: Based on encouraging test results from water and soil samples taken by Ecos Environmental and Disaster Restoration, it was determined that work could resume on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 10.
Around 8pm on Monday, Aug. 7, members of the public noticed a harsh smell emanating from near the southern River Valley Ranch bridge over the Crystal River. On July 27, in-stream work had begun as part of the Crystal River Restoration project intended to restore and enhance a half-mile, 18-acre stretch of the river determined to be “unsustainably impaired” by the Roaring Fork Conservancy in 2016.
“We were taking our dog out for a walk and, as soon as I stepped outside, I smelled an odor that smelled like fuel,” Mary Catherine Conger told The Sopris Sun. Walking toward the bridge, a block from her home, she noticed fire trucks and police cars. “I turned and looked downriver and you could see a sheen on the river, so I knew that the spill wasn’t contained and was going downriver.”
Precautions were taken by the contractor, Dave Meyer, to contain the spill of an estimated five to ten gallons of diesel fuel, according to a press release sent the following evening. Meyer’s company, Redoubt Restoration, uses biodegradable fuel in all of its equipment, with the exception of diesel. The Colorado Department of Health and Environment was promptly contacted by Meyer to report what had happened. Federal and local authorities were also contacted, as required by the permit and contract documents.
The cause of the spill, which occurred downstream from Town ditch intakes and potable water sources, was determined to be a damaged water pump which was being used to dewater a cofferdam. A cofferdam is an area built within a body of water that allows water to be pumped out or drained. The damaged pump was isolated with oil booms, which prevent oil from entering the main channel, and protection kits around 5pm. At 7:45pm, contractors broke a separate cofferdam, not realizing the spill had entered this area as well. The dam was quickly rebuilt and turbidity curtains were placed to isolate the site.
By 11pm, Ecos Environmental and Disaster Restoration arrived with additional oil booms and absorbent pads. They returned at 9am on Tuesday, Aug. 8, to take more soil and water samples and to further clean up at the location of the spill. Once the samples have been tested, Ecos will provide the Town and contractor with a mitigation plan.
Asked about the incident, which wasn’t mentioned during the Trustees’ regular meeting on Aug. 8, Mayor Ben Bohmfalk said that the overall ecological benefits of the Crystal River Restoration project, in-stream and in the upland riparian area, outweigh its temporary impacts. He considered the spill “minor” in the context of the river’s volume. “I don’t see this as a crisis on any level,” he affirmed. “Accidents happen.”
Conger felt differently. “I tuned into the town meeting and I was really surprised and saddened that nothing was mentioned about it,” she said. “I feel that Carbondale is better than that.”
For his part, Meyer wished to assure the public that extra precautions will be taken to avoid another incident like this, including additional oil booms, turbidity curtains and spill containment pads and the monitoring of pumps every 30 minutes. In his 15 years of doing this work, he said he’d never had something like this happen before. “We’re grateful to the Town of Carbondale and its citizens for their patience and understanding,” he told The Sopris Sun. “Unfortunately, sometimes accidents do happen. Rarely, but they do happen. We will continue working with Ecos Environmental until this issue is resolved and mitigated. We will be adding extra efforts to contain the pumps and ensure that this doesn’t happen again. We hope that by the time the project is completed, we’ll leave the Town of Carbondale in a little bit better of a place than when we arrived.”
In-stream work must be completed by Sept. 30, as required by Colorado Parks & Wildlife to avoid impacting mountain whitefish populations. The project aims to restore wetland and riparian areas, while improving the hydrology for spawning fish; it was designed by RiverRestoration and DHM Design. For more details, visit www.bit.ly/CrystalRiverPlan