Report on Westfield River Herbicide Spill Environmental Analyst: Michael R.

Jocelyn Date: 2013-03-25

Dear Amanda Reckonwith, Per your request regarding the herbicide spill that took place on Thursday, March 21st 2013 at approximately 7:30 a.m. EST, along the East Branch of the Westfield River, I present the following report detailing a summary of the accident, all calculations of river flow and the speed of contaminated water, and a detailed course of action. Summary of Accident At approximately 7:30 a.m. EST, a tanker truck containing 5000 gallons (18, 927.06 liters) of herbicide flipped over on the Rte. 143 Bridge located in Chesterfield, MA (Figure 1). The entire load of herbicide was distributed into the river in one minute according to reports acquired from the driver of the vehicle and nearby witnesses. Reports from the manufacturer of the herbicide indicate that the density of the chemical is 0.9 kg/l. Two hours after the time of the accident the following water conditions were observed and documented. The discharge from the East Branch of the Westfield River was 481cfs. This flow information was gathered from the USGS water monitoring stations (1.), along the Westfield River. Currently the river is flowing at a rate of 2 feet per minute. The rest of this document deals with calculations involving these numbers to determine concentrations of herbicide in the river. Calculations Assuming the flow of the river is near constant and taking into consideration the drivers account that the herbicide spilled at a constant rate for 1 minute, the following calculations have been done to determine the original concentration: (5000 gal/min) x (3.785 liters/gal) x (1 min/60 sec) = 315.42 liters/second (315.42 liters/second) x (.09 kg/ liter) = 283.33kg of herbicide per second (481 ft3/ second) x (28.3 liters/ft3) = 13,612.3 liters/second

*These calculations determine the overall concentration for each second, located below is the calculation of herbicide per liter of water: (283.88 kg/second) x (1 second/13,612.3 liters) = 0.02085 kg/liter.

Assuming that the river is moving at a constant rate of 2 feet/second then following calculation can be used to track the flow of herbicide in feet per hour: (2 ft/second) x (60 second/1min) x (60 min/1 hour) = 7200 ft/hr Distance(ft )= 7200 x (--) hrs

At the time I received the information regarding the spill (9:30 a.m. EST), the formula listed above can be used to determine the approximate distance the herbicide tainted water has traveled in feet or miles: 7200 x (2) hrs = 14,400 ft 14,400 ft x (1 mile/5280 ft) = 2.72 miles

The DSI Fibermart Fish Ladder is located in West Springfield, MA (Figure 1.), which is an important pathway for Atlantic salmon to travel on. If an herbicide were to reach it, it has the potential to cause serious problems for fish species including salmon. The distance from the original spill site to this Fish Ladder is 36.61 miles or 193,330.8 ft (Figure 1.). Therefore the following formula is used to determine how long the herbicide would take to reach it: 193,330.8 feet 5280 = 26.84 (26 hours and 50 minutes)

Going on information we just recently received downstream, the concentration of herbicide in the river was measured at 0.025 mg/liter of water. Using this measurement and knowing the flow of the East and Middle Branches at 9:30 a.m. EST (1), we can calculate the concentration after they join as follows: ((481 cfs x 0.025 mg/l) + (140 cfs x 0.00 mg/l)) (481cfs + 140 cfs) = 0.0194 mg/l

After calculating the Middle and East Branches joining, we can calculate the West Branch coming in and the resulting concentration of herbicide in the Main Branch as follows: ((621 cfs x 0.0194 mg/l) + (205 cfs x 0.00 mg/l)) (621 + 205) = 0.0146 mg/l

According to the report from the manufacturer of the chemical, the herbicide degrades 50% of its total balance every 24 hours, becoming inactive. Using this calculation the following table (Table 1.) and graph (Figure 2.) were created to analyze how long it will take the herbicide to be less than 1% active

Percent Hours Remaining 0 100 24 50 48 25 72 12.5 96 6.25 120 3.125 144 1.5625 168 0.78125

Table 1. This table shows the percent of active herbicide remaining in the river every 24 hour period. Notice that after 168 hours (7 days), less than 1% of the chemical remains active.

Referring to the graph (Figure 2.) at the end of this document, the equation of the trend line tracking how much substance is active every 24 hours, is: 100 x e(-0.029)( hours) = % remaining. By inserting an hour amount into the formula where specified, one can determine exactly how much of the herbicide remains. Environmental Impacts This chemical spill has several short term and long term consequences associated with it. The most immediate threat posed is to the plants in the East Branch of the Westfield River. They are the most fundamental source of food for macroinvertebrates (small bugs inhabiting riparian zones). If almost all plant life is wiped out in the East Branch, then the water becomes uninhabitable to the majority of macroinvertebrates and larger aquatic species such as fish and amphibians, which are lacking in a food source in the food chain. Long term effects, at this point only speculative, include future loss of plant species, continuing the trend of an unhealthy river with no bugs or fish. This can occur in two ways, one being that the plants took decades to establish the territory and become accustomed to it, and they wont again for decades after the spill. The other is the introduction of more hardy or invasive

species that change the character of the river. Another long term impact is the loss of plants along the shore if herbicide is delivered to them somehow. With these plants dead, the banks can lose their root system, which acts as a stabilizer. These roots prevent loss of banks through erosion, and without them the river is more prone to floods. Unfortunately, at this point, all of these scenarios are speculation, but they all have a possibility of occurring. Environmental Remediation There are several options that may be appropriate for this chemical spill depending on the response time. The most immediate option and probably the most effective would be to release as much water as possible form the Knightville Reservoir within the next 4 hours. The dam is approximately 10 miles downstream of the spill, giving us about 7 hours to respond. Since it has already been 2 hours, there is approximately 5 hours before the herbicide is through the dam at the end of the reservoir. If we lower the water levels drastically, we can seal off the dam and collect the substance off the top of the water, since it will float due to its low density. Activated charcoal or a chemically active fiber (2) in spill socks can be placed at the bottom of the dam in case an of the herbicide seeps through when the water is let to pass again. The other option and the one I advise against due to its environmental impacts, is to let the substance take the course of the river and deactivate itself. Depending on the strength of the herbicide, it might be possible that its impact would not be severe enough to warrant a serious cleanup effort. A follow up with the chemical company is required. We must alert the Department of Environmental Protection Emergency Response Crew in either case and follow their protocol on these types of spills.

Sources 1. "USGS Current Water Data for the Nation." USGS Current Water Data for the Nation. USGS, n.d.
Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt>.

2. Moore, Caroline. "Removing Herbicides from Water." Removing Herbicides from Water. RSC
Publisher, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/ChemTech/Volume/2006/10/removing_herbicides.asp>.

Figures

Figure 1. This map displays the original spill location (yellow circle), the Fish Ladder (green circle), and the path the herbicide will take down the Westfield River (red line).

% Remains
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0 50 100 150 200

% Remains Expon. (% Remains) y = 100e-0.029x

Figure 2. This graph displays the exponential degradation of the herbicide every 24 hours on the X axis. The percentage of the substance remaining is displayed on the Y axis. Notice the formula that can be used to determine the percentage left of the substance at any time.