KAREN VIBERT-KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette A containment boom floats in the Susquehanna River near the Hepburn Street dam on Tuesday.

Radiation at the site of the oily substance spill at Eureka Resources that occurred Aug. 17 has been tested by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Emergency Response Team.

A member of the team used an AccuRad radiation meter to survey radiation at the site of the spill during the initial investigation response, and did not detect any levels of radiation above background levels, said Megan Lehman, a DEP Northcentral Region spokeswoman.

The agency has continued its investigation following the spill from an aboveground storage tank at the Second Street facility in Williamsport.

DEP has inspected the facility daily since the spill occurred.

DEP has worked with the state Fish and Boat Commission, Williamsport Sanitary Authority, Lycoming County Emergency Management Agency, Bureau of Codes in the City of Williamsport, and Williamsport Fire Department.

“DEP will explore all options and resources for carrying out cleanup efforts, which will continue as long as necessary,” Lehman noted.

To prevent additional releases to the river, the ongoing cleanup efforts are currently focused on the facility and the connected stormwater system to remove any remaining pooled material.

Moreover, representatives from DEP’s Waste Management program have taken samples from the site, including of the spilled material, and in the river above and below the point of discharge to be tested for constituents of petroleum products and radioactive material.

The closest downstream public water supplier in Milton has been monitoring its intake and has reported no impacts.

Based on all available information, DEP determined it was not necessary to recommend a broad-based restriction on public access to the river.

On Aug. 19, DEP issued an administrative order to Eureka Resources ordering them to take immediate interim action to prevent further release from the leaking tank at the Second Street facility, to submit to DEP within five days a plan to remove all liquid waste spilled at the site, and to remove all liquid waste currently stored at the site within 30 days.

DEP found that as of June 29, the waste had been stored for over one year, placing it in violation of the permit.

The agency has closely monitored the status of all three of Eureka Resources’ facilities and has taken several actions as materials stored at the various sites began to exceed the one-year threshold of waste being stored on site.

On July 9, DEP issued an administrative order and assessment of civil penalty for the Catawissa Avenue (Reach Road) Williamsport facility. The agency also continues to work through a similar enforcement process for the Standing Stone Bradford County facility.

Two days after the spill that got into the West Branch of the Susquehanna, various groups have contained and continue to work on cleaning up the oil-based pollution event, according to status updates from Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association Inc.

In different ripple sections, sheens of oil can be seen, especially around vegetation that absorbed the waste fluid like a sponge and releases it each time it is bumped, said Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper John Zaktansky. “And there are still pools of rainbow-covered sheen all depending on what angle you view the river from.”

The group is concerned about issues south of the Hepburn Street pump house outfall where the state officials said Eureka Resources fracking waste entered the river.

Because of this, the group urged individuals to continue to avoid recreational use of the river below the city dam to at least the Greevy boat launch if not further downriver to Montgomery to be safe until more information is available and clean up is completed.

The group noted that there continues to be a strong smell of oil along the riverbank and an oily coating on some of the river’s stones along the banks.

The leak was discovered by a pair of fishermen who noticed an oily black ooze coming from the Hepburn Street pump house into the river and reported it.

That sparked the investigation that led officials to its source: a corroded fitting about 3 to 4 feet above the ground on what was identified as Tank N3 at the Eureka Resources facility.

The leak released an estimated 16,000 gallons of oil-based wastewater – half of which made it past the secondary containment into the building and some of that worked its way into storm drains, nearby Grafius Run and then emptied into the river.

Grafius Run is one of those streams that city officials have for years tried to contain as far as flooding goes. It runs from Loyalsock Township into the city and then splits as it goes beneath ground.

The city put automatic flood gauges on Grafius Run to alert public works employees when there is a danger of the stream overflowing its banks and causing street flooding.

It sets in motion the public works crew using heavy equipment to remove whatever trapped flood debris is in the stream blocking the inlets or trash racks.

The city is exploring with its federal grant and Congressional delegation consultant using whatever grant money is available to design and install automatic trash racks that would be triggered and operate when there is a flood, Keller Partners, the Washington, D.C., city and Lycoming County consulting firm, has said in prior meetings.

While the spill did not go backwards into the stream, the stream empties near the Hepburn Street pump house.

In terms of the corrective action at Eureka, the DEP order goes on to explain the unlawful conduct of the business in:

• Storage of solid waste and residual waste for more than one year at the site

• Operation of a solid waste and residual waste disposal facility at the site without a permit

• Lack of sufficient freeboard in Tank B8

• Lack to operate Tank B8, Tank N3 and other above-ground tanks with high-level alarms during an Aug. 1 inspection, where these were found to be either disconnected or inoperable

• Eureka’s release of solid waste and residual waste to the waters of the commonwealth

• Eureka’s unauthorized discharge of oil and gas liquid waste into the West Branch of the Susquehanna

• Violation of both the Solid Waste Management Act and Clean Streams Law

DEP ordered Eureka to complete the following actions within the designated timelines:

• Take immediate remedial actions to prevent a further release from tank N3.

• Within five days, submit a report on interim measures implemented and a corrective action plan for the removal of oil and gas liquid waste from the building and storm drains

• Within 30 days repair or activate high-level alarms on all the tanks that contain oil and gas liquid that do not have functioning alarms.

• Not add any fluid to any tank on site until DEP confirms all the high-level alarms are functioning.

• Remove all oil and gas liquid from the site and property within 30 days, disposing of or recycling it at an authorized facility.

• Submit to DEP within 40 days receipts and documentation demonstrating that all the oil and gas liquids have been removed from the site and have been properly disposed.

• Inform DEP at least 10 days in advance if it intends to transfer an interest in the site before it has complied with all the requirements of the order.​