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SALT LAKE CITY -
Chevron says an oil leak that sent an estimated 33,000 gallons of oil into the Red Butte Creek and the Jordan River came from a quarter-sized hole in the pipeline. At a news conference Monday, the manager of Chevron's Salt Lake City refinery, Mark Sullivan, said the company believes the rupture in the 10-inch pipeline was caused by a high voltage electrical arc from a metal post.
"One way of thinking about it is welding. When you weld two pieces of metal together, you use very high voltage electricity to melt the metals and put them in place," Sullivan said. "It can also be used to gouge holes or to cut pieces of pipe."
Chevron is still investigating what caused the electrical arc. Sullivan said that Jordan River remains the main focus of the oil spill clean up effort.
The spill happened Saturday when the pipeline burst and sent about 33,000 gallons of crude petroleum into the Red Butte Creek, which then spread to Liberty Park and the Jordan River. On Sunday, Salt Lake City officials said the leak had finally stopped and the pipeline had been capped. There is currently no residual leaking from the spill.
Chevron has pledged to take "full responsibility" for the leak and has brought in crews from outside Utah to help clean up the spill.
"This pipeline has some unusual characteristics, which makes measuring the flow very difficult," said Sullivan.
Sullivan said the unique factors of the pipeline include the steep grade, the different kinds of crude oil that come through the pipeline and the amount of soil on top of the leak.
Crews are hoping to have the oil cleaned up in a couple of weeks. Authorities have been sampling the water from 600 North to Jordan River and have found no traces of oil. Crews are also monitoring the 1100 East through Sunnyside Park area.
The spill has now killed fish and has covered hundreds of animals in oil. Hogle Zoo has been assisting in the efforts of cleaning the animals and bringing them to safety.
On Sunday, Chevron started excavating the 10-inch pipeline in an effort to determine the cause of the leak. Meanwhile, clean-up crews placed booms along the Jordan River in an effort to prevent the oil from spreading to the ecologically sensitive Great Salt Lake and its surrounding marshlands.
Environmentalists told Fox 13 they had traced the slick along the Jordan River to the Salt Lake-Davis County line. Salt Lake City Mayor's spokeswoman Lisa Harrison-Smith said they believed the spill had been contained to the Jordan River and they were assessing how far north it had gotten.
"We still have to remember the tail end of the problem, and not forget to put the protective measures down here, too," said Jeff Salt with the group Great Salt Lake Keepers. "The fish that are in the river, the birds that habitat the Great Salt Lake and Farmington Bay, and those people that irrigate from the Jordan River into their gardens. They need to be warned also."
Harrison-Smith said the city had already told Chevron to focus more on the Jordan River. Most of the clean-up efforts Sunday focused on the Liberty Park area and surrounding neighborhoods. At Liberty Park, crews were seen working to clean the pond that received thousands of gallons of oil, coating wildlife with oil. Nearly 300 birds have been taken to Hogle Zoo to be cleaned.
A Chevron spokesman said Sunday that they were bringing in teams of people to clean up the oil. Such an effort will cost the company millions of dollars.
"Money's really not the issue right now," said Sean Comey. "We have the appropriate resources to address this situation. What's important to us is we manage it effectively. That we minimize the impact on the community."
Those impacted directly by the oil spill were urged by city officials not to begin clean up on their own, but file a claim with Chevron and have them fix it. The oil can irritate the skin, and the fumes have sickened some people. Chevron set up a hotline to handle complaints and concerns at 1-866-752-6340.
Meanwhile, federal regulators have also launched a series of investigations into the leak and its environmental impact. Government records obtained by Fox 13 revealed that Chevron paid $15,000 in fines last year for pipeline problems in Utah.
The fine, levied by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration stemmed from a 2002 incident along the company's Salt Lake Crude System. It alleged that Chevron had waited more than 30 days from discovering an "immediate repair condition on the Salt Lake Crude System, Hanna to Salt Lake segment, and its temporary reduction of the operating pressure of that pipeline."
The government also issued a series of warnings to Chevron in that same order, claiming that the Chevron Pipeline Co. also did not follow its risk assessment process in evaluating a pipeline and "assigned the regulatory impact cost a higher value than human impacts or environmental factors within its scenario evaluation risk dimensions."
A Chevron spokesman said Sunday he was unaware of the specifics of the government findings.
"My understanding is that the independent agencies that monitor this have not found problems with it before," Comey said.
Environmentalists also said they have not found too many problems with Chevron or its pipelines.
"I think Chevron has been a responsible corporate citizen," Salt said. "From an environmental perspective, that's odd to say, often to give kudos to an oil company. But in my experience, we have had a good relationship and seen good efforts by Chevron in this community."
A town hall meeting has been set up for those who have questions or concerns about the oil spill. The meeting will be held at Clayton Middle School at 1471 South 1900 East in Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Becker and Chevron officials will update the public on the latest conditions and any progress being made in the clean-up effort.
"One way of thinking about it is welding. When you weld two pieces of metal together, you use very high voltage electricity to melt the metals and put them in place," Sullivan said. "It can also be used to gouge holes or to cut pieces of pipe."
Chevron is still investigating what caused the electrical arc. Sullivan said that Jordan River remains the main focus of the oil spill clean up effort.
The spill happened Saturday when the pipeline burst and sent about 33,000 gallons of crude petroleum into the Red Butte Creek, which then spread to Liberty Park and the Jordan River. On Sunday, Salt Lake City officials said the leak had finally stopped and the pipeline had been capped. There is currently no residual leaking from the spill.
Chevron has pledged to take "full responsibility" for the leak and has brought in crews from outside Utah to help clean up the spill.
"This pipeline has some unusual characteristics, which makes measuring the flow very difficult," said Sullivan.
Sullivan said the unique factors of the pipeline include the steep grade, the different kinds of crude oil that come through the pipeline and the amount of soil on top of the leak.
Crews are hoping to have the oil cleaned up in a couple of weeks. Authorities have been sampling the water from 600 North to Jordan River and have found no traces of oil. Crews are also monitoring the 1100 East through Sunnyside Park area.
The spill has now killed fish and has covered hundreds of animals in oil. Hogle Zoo has been assisting in the efforts of cleaning the animals and bringing them to safety.
On Sunday, Chevron started excavating the 10-inch pipeline in an effort to determine the cause of the leak. Meanwhile, clean-up crews placed booms along the Jordan River in an effort to prevent the oil from spreading to the ecologically sensitive Great Salt Lake and its surrounding marshlands.
Environmentalists told Fox 13 they had traced the slick along the Jordan River to the Salt Lake-Davis County line. Salt Lake City Mayor's spokeswoman Lisa Harrison-Smith said they believed the spill had been contained to the Jordan River and they were assessing how far north it had gotten.
"We still have to remember the tail end of the problem, and not forget to put the protective measures down here, too," said Jeff Salt with the group Great Salt Lake Keepers. "The fish that are in the river, the birds that habitat the Great Salt Lake and Farmington Bay, and those people that irrigate from the Jordan River into their gardens. They need to be warned also."
Harrison-Smith said the city had already told Chevron to focus more on the Jordan River. Most of the clean-up efforts Sunday focused on the Liberty Park area and surrounding neighborhoods. At Liberty Park, crews were seen working to clean the pond that received thousands of gallons of oil, coating wildlife with oil. Nearly 300 birds have been taken to Hogle Zoo to be cleaned.
A Chevron spokesman said Sunday that they were bringing in teams of people to clean up the oil. Such an effort will cost the company millions of dollars.
"Money's really not the issue right now," said Sean Comey. "We have the appropriate resources to address this situation. What's important to us is we manage it effectively. That we minimize the impact on the community."
Those impacted directly by the oil spill were urged by city officials not to begin clean up on their own, but file a claim with Chevron and have them fix it. The oil can irritate the skin, and the fumes have sickened some people. Chevron set up a hotline to handle complaints and concerns at 1-866-752-6340.
Meanwhile, federal regulators have also launched a series of investigations into the leak and its environmental impact. Government records obtained by Fox 13 revealed that Chevron paid $15,000 in fines last year for pipeline problems in Utah.
The fine, levied by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration stemmed from a 2002 incident along the company's Salt Lake Crude System. It alleged that Chevron had waited more than 30 days from discovering an "immediate repair condition on the Salt Lake Crude System, Hanna to Salt Lake segment, and its temporary reduction of the operating pressure of that pipeline."
The government also issued a series of warnings to Chevron in that same order, claiming that the Chevron Pipeline Co. also did not follow its risk assessment process in evaluating a pipeline and "assigned the regulatory impact cost a higher value than human impacts or environmental factors within its scenario evaluation risk dimensions."
A Chevron spokesman said Sunday he was unaware of the specifics of the government findings.
"My understanding is that the independent agencies that monitor this have not found problems with it before," Comey said.
Environmentalists also said they have not found too many problems with Chevron or its pipelines.
"I think Chevron has been a responsible corporate citizen," Salt said. "From an environmental perspective, that's odd to say, often to give kudos to an oil company. But in my experience, we have had a good relationship and seen good efforts by Chevron in this community."
A town hall meeting has been set up for those who have questions or concerns about the oil spill. The meeting will be held at Clayton Middle School at 1471 South 1900 East in Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Mayor Becker and Chevron officials will update the public on the latest conditions and any progress being made in the clean-up effort.
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