Plantation Pipe Line reported that the pipeline was shut down the morning of December 9, 2014 and the approximate area of the leak had been located. Plantation Pipe Line initiated petroleum product (product) recovery using vacuum trucks from the pipeline excavation. It was estimated that approximately 2,500 gallons of petroleum had been recovered during the initial repair to the pipeline. By December 15, 2014, 8,578 gallons of petroleum had been recovered, ten temporary monitoring wells had been installed, and backfilling of the repaired pipeline was in process. Repairs to the pipeline were completed by Plantation Pipe Line and Lewis Drive was reopened to traffic the week of December 19, 2014.
Assessment Activities and Intermediate Response Actions
As a result of the spill, SC DHEC required Plantation Pipe Line to perform an evaluation of the impacts to the environment, typically called as assessment. The assessment has been an on-going process. Ten temporary groundwater monitoring wells were installed within the first week of discovery of the release. Eighteen product recovery sumps were installed prior to the discovery of petroleum sheen on Brown's Creek on January 20, 2015. In response to the impacts to Brown's Creek, Plantation Pipe Line vacuumed the sheen from Brown's Creek, installed an additional sump, installed two product recovery trenches, and installed 17 booms in Brown's Creek to prevent contamination from moving downstream. Plantation Pipe Line has reported that, as of the end of November 2016, 209,860 gallons of product had been recovered.
As of July 2016, Plantation Pipe Line had installed 98 temporary monitoring wells, 20 product recovery sumps, 15 recovery wells, two product recovery trenches, and 17 absorbent booms to capture any petroleum reaching Brown's Creek. Approximately 2,800 tons of contaminated soil has been removed. Plantation Pipe Line has reported that, as of the end of November 2016, 209,860 gallons of product had been recovered. Weekly recovery of product is on-going at the site and surface water samples are collected and analyzed monthly at multiple locations along Brown's Creek.
Plantation Pipe Line has submitted periodic monitoring reports to the Department since response actions began.
DHEC Surface Water Sampling Event
In response to community concerns that contamination from the Plantation Pipe Line Lewis Drive petroleum release had migrated downstream, DHEC coordinated a surface water sampling event with Anderson County. On February 28, 2017, DHEC collected surface water samples to determine if contaminants related to the petroleum release had migrated downstream to Broadway Lake. Representatives from Plantation Pipe Line and Anderson County's Stormwater Management Department also participated in the sampling event. DHEC's data from this sampling event did not detect petroleum contaminants above risk-based screening levels downstream from the release site to Broadway Lake. Additional information related to the sampling event, including maps of the sampling locations and analysis results of all samples, can be found on the Surface Water Sampling Event page.