Brine spill poses risk to Bay waters' health

By Paul Rogers
KNIGHT RIDDER
Posted on Sun, Jun. 05, 2005

In the third such incident in less than three years, Cargill Salt, an industrial salt evaporation company based in Newark, spilled nearly 18,000 gallons of toxic brine along the eastern shoreline of San Francisco Bay this week.

The spill occurred Wednesday about 2:15 p.m. near the Newark Barge Canal, an inlet south of the Dumbarton Bridge near Cargill's facilities where it produces salt for roads, food and medical uses.

It was unclear Friday if wildlife were harmed by the spill of bittern, a toxic salt-making byproduct that is up to 10 times as salty as the ocean. State officials who responded after Cargill reported the incident Wednesday said they did not see floating fish or other evidence of ecological damage. However, bittern is heavier than water and can sink to the water's bottom, affecting species there.

After Cargill accidentally spilled 36,900 gallons of bittern in the same area in September 2002, following a pipe failure, several commercial fishermen in the South Bay reported reduced shrimp catches that persisted for months.

In the latest incident, Cargill workers opened the valve on the bottom of a rail car that was parked on train tracks adjacent to the Newark Barge Canal. The rail car had been returned by a customer of Cargill's and identified by Union Pacific railroad as empty, said Lori Johnson, a spokeswoman for Cargill.

When the workers opened the valve, the contents rushed out, overwhelming a containment basin. Cargill loads bittern into rail cars in the area. The bittern comes from its salt evaporation ponds and is used around the country as a product to de-ice roads.

"It was clearly an accident," Johnson said. "It happened very quickly and we reported it very quickly to all of the authorities. We don't think much of anything -- if anything -- got to Newark Slough."

Johnson said the rail car held about 17,650 gallons. The company was able to contain or recover about 6,000 gallons, she said. The rest poured onto a dirt road, where some flowed into surrounding marshlands and some flowed into channels that feed into the canal. The canal empties into Newark Slough, which drains into the bay.

Scott Murtha, a warden for the state Office of Spill Prevention and Response, said he took water quality samples the day of the incident. Those were taken by the Alameda County District Attorney's office and have been sent to a state lab for analysis, he said.

Cargill also had a bittern spill on April 17, 2004, according to state records. That spill occurred from a cracked pipe on the company's Redwood City Facility on Seaport Boulevard at the Port of Redwood City. Johnson said some bittern went into the storm drain there.

The incidents have raised concerns among environmental groups.

Following the company's 2002 spill, officials at the state Regional Water Quality Control Board in Oakland opened an investigation that could have resulted in pollution fines of up to $300,000. But it took no enforcement action.

Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the water board, said Friday that the case is still open, and that it had been delayed because the two staff members assigned to the case had departed. Also, state Fish and Game officials did not take water quality samples in 2002 immediately after the incident, as they did this time, providing limited evidence.

"The case is still open," Wolfe said. "There is an indication, however, that there are ongoing spills that need to be addressed. Our options include continuing to see how we address the 2002 event -- either as a separate event or part of a pattern."

Environmentalists said the state should have acted already.

"Accidents happen," said Sejal Chokski, director of advocacy group San Francisco Baykeeper. "But Cargill is responsible. They should be fined, and they should have been fined in the 2002 spill. Because they weren't there was no deterrent."

Cargill, an agribusiness giant based in Minneapolis, gained national attention in 2003 when it sold 16,500 acres of salt evaporation ponds to the state and federal government for $100 million. The ponds are visible to airline travelers flying over the bay because of the algae that sometimes gives them a reddish hue. Government biologists are working on plans now to restore the ponds to wetlands for fish and wildlife. The project will take place over 30 years and ranks as the largest wetlands restoration ever attempted on the West Coast.

Cargill continues to make salt on about 11,000 acres in the East Bay.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/health/11820669.htm