Pipeline leak taints 2 ponds in Altamont

ALTAMONT, Duchesne County — Federal, state and local officials are monitoring cleanup efforts here after condensate and yellow wax crude oil spilled into two private irrigation ponds and apparently killed 14 ducks and a dog.

The spill was the result of a leak in a three-inch pipeline that transports condensate from a compressor station operated by El Paso Exploration & Production Co. to a nearby processing facility. Condensate is a light amber-colored hydrocarbon, typically associated with natural gas production, that quickly evaporates when it comes in contact with the air.

According to a statement released by El Paso last week, the leak was discovered on Feb. 21 by Bruce Hartman, the rancher who owns the property where the ponds are located. Hartman notified company officials in Altamont, who immediately shut down the line and emptied it.

A report filed by El Paso with the TriCounty Health Department initially estimated that 300 gallons of condensate had spilled from the pipeline. That estimate was later amended to 50 gallons of condensate and crude oil.

But Darrin Brown, director of environmental health for the TriCounty Health Department, said it's impossible to know just how much product leaked from the pipeline.

"It's going to be impossible to come up with how much has been spilled," he said.

El Paso employees responded to the ranch and began removing the crude oil and condensate from the ponds using absorbent materials, booms and vacuum trucks.

"It was a pretty good initial attack on the problem," said Scott Hacking, the district engineer with the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for the tri-county area. "There were probably a dozen folks there."

Hacking said one of the two contaminated ponds flows into an irrigation ditch and then into a field. A third pond showed no signs of being contaminated. Hacking said the spill is not expected to affect groundwater in the area.

In addition to calling in TriCounty Health Department and the state DEQ, El Paso officials also contacted the National Response Center in Washington, D.C., which notified the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, due to the impact on migratory waterfowl. The state divisions of Wildlife Resources and Oil, Gas, and Mining were also informed of the spill.

A DWR conservation officer, working in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was dispatched to the scene to recover the ducks from the pond. The carcass of one duck has been sent for analysis to determine if it died as a result of the oil spill.