Crews opened fire hydrants Tuesday to flush thousands of gallons of olive oil out of the storm drains as workers continued to mop up the spill in the Baltimore Harbor.
“We have to walk the oil down the system and out the outfall,” said Alan Williams, director of emergency operations for the Maryland Department of the Environment.
About 5,000 gallons of olive oil poured into the harbor Monday afternoon at South Linwood Avenue in Canton, 2 1/2 days after spilling from a holding tank at Pompeian Inc. about two miles north.
Vandals broke into a 20-foot holding tank at the Pompeian plant on Pulaski Highway sometime between Friday evening and Saturday morning, said Pompeian President Frank Patton.
“I think it’s just a malicious act,” Patton said Tuesday at the plant.
Company officials notified the MDE, but they left a message on an unstaffed number. MDE officials didn’t hear the message until Monday, Williams said.
Because the food grade oil is not regulated, the company was not required to call the 24-hour emergency number. But if the MDE had known sooner, it could have had crews begin flushing the drains Saturday, he said.
“We moved into action as soon as we knew about it,” Williams said.
The oil is not toxic, but can suck the oxygen out of the water and cause fish kills, he said.
Patton said the company was taking “full responsibility” for the cleanup, but wasn’t sure how much it would cost. The 5,000 gallons of olive oil cost about $90,000, he said.
The cleanup could take a few days, depending on how well the flushing works and how much trash and debris is clogged in the storm drain, Williams said.
The spill will be referred to MDE compliance officials, and there is expected to be “some enforcement action,” Williams said.
Far more toxic pollution such as sewage or industrial chemicals often seeps into the harbor, but rarely does such an aggressive cleanup effort occur, said Eliza Smith Steinmeier, executive director of the advocacy group Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper.
“It has to be something this visually obvious to warrant this response,” she said, standing at the South Linwood Avenue outfall Monday afternoon where a murky yellow-brown goo surfaced.
“If we had that kind of response on a regular basis, the polluters would be held more accountable.”
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