To the relief of many low tech audience members, Mayor Chris Cerino simplified the challenge of managing a twenty-five year old heating oil spill on the Chester River Health premises during Monday night’s Utilities Commission meeting by drawing the analogy to a Kool-Aid stain on a carpet.
“It’s like when you spill a gallon of Kool-Aid on your carpet: the first thing you are going to do is use towels and sop up what you can get. And after a couple of hours, that’s not going get anymore Kool-Aid, and you have a big red stain in the carpet. So then you need to put some carpet cleaner to clean up the rest of up.”
While the impact on a household rug is not the same as a town’s drinking water supply, the metaphor remains a helpful one in understanding what Shore Health, Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE) and the town of Chestertown has to do to clean up the remaining oil or “free product” of the spill.
The task of explaining that process fell to Shore Health’s consultant, Dane Bauer, who described to the council the history of the twenty-five year old oil spill, Shore Health’s process with MDE, and the use of Ivey-Sol, a patented chemical.
Chestertown Utilities Manager Bob Sipes stated that he remained committed to working with Shore Health going forward, but highlighted his concern about the apparent lack of transparency to date, including late reports to the town, and no information about the chemicals that make up Ivey-Sol.
Sipes dramatically pointed out that his six month effort to obtain the elements in Ivey- Sol was resolved only by researching the US Patent Office public domain files. As a result of the information he obtained in the public domain patent document describing Ivey-Sol, Sipes indicated that he saw nothing so far in the properties of the surfactant that would impact public safety but wanted more time to review. “Basically it looks like a combination of alcohol compounds that will biodegrade over a short period of time.”
While there might have been some huffing and puffing, the Town Council and Shore Regional Health came to an agreement that more study and transparency was needed before Ivey-Sol is used to capture the leaked heating oil and keep it from contaminating the town’s drinking water.
While most questions relating to the Shore Health’s clean up plan were answered at the Chestertown Utilities Commission last night, UM Shore Regional Health CEO Ken Kozel and consultant Dane Bauer, assured the town that they, “want to get it right.”
The video is approximately fourteen minutes.
Handout from Shore Regional Health
Keith Thompson says
Editor,
I think this highlights the concept of solving local problems locally rather than seeking solutions from Annapolis. It’s not hard to imagine that there has been a communications problem between the town and the hospital if all along the hospital has been working under the assumption that they’re answering to the MDE and not to the town…a safe assumption given Maryland’s top-heavy state government. Ultimately, those concerned about potential contamination of the town’s drinking water should ask which government entity they want in charge of the cleanup? The town has a lot more at stake here than the state.
Fred Keer says
Editor
Mayor’s carpet analogy game part II: We go back in time a bit in your daughter’s game. Gee, I’m no longer getting any liquid in my straws, you say, it must be clean. You reach for the cover and your lovely daughter says no, no. Ounce you remove the cover you can’t clean anymore. Oh. You look at the pattern of straws and think, being smarter than the average consultant (I couldn’t stop myself, sorry), I wonder if there is cool aid in between the straws? Oh, you say, I certainly don’t want to buy anymore $500 straws, I know, I’ll dump some soap and water down the straws and suck it out. OK, you got a bit more, that was cool. But the pattern of the few straws you have isn’t uniform, you notice, and you still can’t see if you got it all where you have no straws, but boy those spots around the straws seem to be nice and clean. Still thinking (I’ll refrain), maybe I should move my straws in between the clean places to see if I got it all. Your daughter stops you, no, no, you can’t move them. Oh cool, you get to spend more money. But hey, you think of it as a wise investment in your child ‘s future. $5000 lighter and a happy daughter later, you take your 10 straws and start poking and, surprise! But at least you know what is there and can be more assured of a cleaner carpet when you’re finished. Still thinking (still refraining), you wonder if there is more you could do? Game, of course, not over.
Fred Keer says
Editor
I could not help but notice the juxtaposition of terms used to discuss aspects of the site in the April 21 synopsis of the site, provided by Shore Regional Health, posted above. Note the expansive terms “nearly 3 decades, nearly 30 years, continued operation for 28 years” (operation of the pump and treat system has not been continuous). When discussing the remaining contamination we encounter diminutive terms such as “staining, trace amounts, residue, small amounts, trace oil” . The fact is, no one knows how much contamination remains in the subsurface. The continued monitoring of the installed wells, most of which have been in place for many years, merely indicates the amount of contamination which reaches the wells via preferential flow paths surrounding the wells, established over the years. These wells may or may not represent site wide conditions. In short, there is no data between the installed wells which shed light on current subsurface conditions. There is, I believe, a bit of spin doctoring at play. This is no small matter. Spin direction speaks volumes. Also note the statement: “A 1986 break in a heating fuel oil line…” Lets have fun with math. 2014 minus 28 equals 1986. This implies that the contamination traveled from underneath the hospital building to Campus Avenue in a few months. Think about it. Compare this to other statements concerning travel time to the town water supply.
Fred Keer says
Editor:
Taking the Mayor’s analogy a few steps further: Life is good, your three year old announces she just dumped a gallon of red Koolaid on your white carpet (analogous to drinking water standard). Oh phooey, you say (right). Now she wants a game (must accommodate your child). I covered it up and I’m only going to tell you where I dumped it and you have to use gold straws which cost $500 each, she says (she’s building a college fund). You can afford 10. You can’t look or feel and can only poke the straw through the cover and suck (oh cool, you say). You poke and most of the straws find cool aid, some don’t. You have to suck slowly because if you suck too hard you will end up with a dry spot and no more liquid in the straw. After a few fun hours you get no more kool aid in your straws. Gee, I must have gotten it all, you say. You remove the cover. What do you think you find? Gee, you say to yourself, the dry straws told me my carpet was clean.