Hazardous Material Spill Prevention

The CRWP has identified hazardous materials spills as being a high-risk factor that could affect drinking water quality in the Clackamas River watershed. Potential spills from commercial and industrial areas, railroad lines, transportation activities along I-205, HWY 26 (crosses North Fork of Deep Creek near the junction of HWY 26 and 212), HWY 211 and HWY 212/224, and road bridges crossing the Clackamas River are of particular concern.

The CRWP has been working with Water Environment Services, Clackamas Fire District #1, Clackamas Disaster Management, DEQ, ODOT and EPA and other local first responders to better understand the risk of a hazardous material spill to drinking water, and has been convening annual meetings of the Clackamas Spill Committee to discuss spill prevention and spill response efforts.

As part of these proactive efforts to help our first responders act rapidly and avoid the initial confusion that often accompanies a spill, the CRWP has been developing a GIS-based emergency response plan for the Clackamas River watershed. The purpose of this plan is to:

• Provide the location and intensity of potential contaminant sources
• Identify critical resources to be prioritized for protection in the event of a spill (e.g. surface water intakes and sensitive habitat)
• Outline site-specific spill response strategies, equipment availability, command post locations, first responder bases, and other logistical information
• Identify potential spill response constraints, including seasonal weather patterns and access issues, reach-specific flow velocities, and infrastructures such as narrow roads and bridge loading rates.

Spill Prevention Program

The Clackamas Industrial Area is an area of particular concern. This is because many of the businesses in the industrial area are less than a quarter of a mile away from the Clackamas and due to the fact that there are a large number of stormwater drains as well as four small tributary creeks (Rock, Sieben, Carli, and Cow Creeks) that drain the Industrial Area. These stormdrains outfalls and tributaries enter the river just upstream of four drinking water intake which combined provide drinking water to over 300,000 people in Clackamas and Washington Counties. Therefore when chemicals spill on a property or street, it can travel quickly to the river.

In 2016 the CRWP received a State Revolving Fund Drinking Water Protection Grant to develop outreach materials and technical assistance programs for industrial customers in this area around hazardous material spill prevention. Find out more about this program below.

The CRWP continues to work with Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC), a nonprofit organization that is one of the Northwest’s leading sources of high quality, unbiased pollution prevention information, to help implement both our technical and financial assistance for spill prevention efforts to businesses located within the Clackamas Industrial area.  See what we accomplished this past year CRWP Final Report 23-24

Outreach Materials

Want to know more about how spill prevention can help protect our drinking water source? Read the drinking water protection brochure. The CRWP also has free Spill Response signs and Stormdrain makers available for any business in the Clackamas Industrial area. 

The Clackamas River Water Providers (CRWP) offers free technical assistance to businesses located in the Clackamas River watershed. 

Free Technical Assistance and Tools

Facility Site Visits

These free facility site visits will help you identify environmental best practices, assist with spill response plans, and identify secondary containment options. Facilities interested in receiving free spill prevention tools and secondary containment systems must complete a free facility site visit to identify the best options for your facility. In our new COVID-19 environment we are now giving facilities the opportunity to fill out the Facility Site Checklist online and submit it electronically.  We will review the form and provide you back with recommendations on stormwater best management practices, spill prevention measures, and send you the spill prevention tools you indicated that you wanted.  Go HERE to fill out the fillable online form or click on the following link to download a pdf of the checklist.  Facility Inspection Checklist 

Free Spill Prevention Tools

What is covered? Purchase and/or installation of secondary containment equipment. Equipment may include spill pallets, double-walled tanks, repairs to floor drains, installation of shut-off valves, and construction of berms and waste cover. The CRWP is also offering free spill kits to every facility within the Clackamas Industrial area.

You have two options: 1) Our technical assistance provider will purchase appropriate spill tools and deliver them to your business, or 2) CRWP will reimburse repair work, constructed containment projects, and updates that prevent pollution and have been completed within the last six (6) months.  The CRWP has limited funding each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) for this program, funding available is first come first served until the funds have been depleted for the fiscal year.

Free Tools Flyer

Free Spill Prevention Tools

Download this 30-minute presentation and give it yourself or have us come do it for you at a staff meeting or safety meeting.  We can also give this presentation remotely via Zoom or another online meeting platform. Spill-Prevention-Training 2020

Training Videos

This video by Excal Visual is designed to help train non-HAZWOPER employees on dealing with a hazardous material (or hazardous waste) spill, leak or release. What to do if you discover a hazmat release? How to determine if a release requires HAZWOPER-trained responders.

Questions?

Other Spill Prevention Resources

DEQ Stormwater Discharge Permits for construction, industrial activities and municipalities.
https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/wqpermits/Pages/Stormwater.aspx

DEQ additional information on industrial “1200-Z” stormwater discharge permits https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/wqpermits/Pages/Stormwater-Industrial.aspx

UltraTech International’s summary of critical regulations for EPA Container Storage, Stormwater Management, and Spill Prevention, Control, & Countermeasures click here.