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SALT LAKE CITY -- A flush of water rushed down Red Butte Creek in an effort to push any lingering oil residue downstream. Chevron pumped extra water into the creek Saturday afternoon.
The plan was approved by federal agencies, and Chevron hopes the flush removed the last bits of oil from last weekend's spill.
The surge was working. I saw little bits and gobs of oil coming down, and [it] collected in certain locations.
–Dan Johnson, Chevron
It took about an hour and a half for the excess water to go from the Red Butte Dam to the Garden Park Ward area. But when it finally did, the water rose in just 10 minutes.
Chevron increased the flow rate from 7 cubic feet per second up to 10 cubic feet per second, similar to what you'd see in a rain storm.
"The surge was working. I saw little bits and gobs of oil coming down, and [it] collected in certain locations; some collected on the booms," said Dan Johnson, manager of state and government affairs for Chevron.
Some of those booms, though, couldn't withstand the force of the water. Workers scrambled to put them back in place.
One set of booms was in too swift of water for anyone to safely fix them, so workers just let them go.
The booms were supposed to pick up a lot of the oil sheen. But if the oil got past those absorbent shields, crews were waiting at Liberty Park to suck it up with vacuums.
"Here is kind of the line of defense, as the water comes down through the culvert," Johnson said.
Chevron says no oil from this flush will get past the park pond, which is relatively reassuring for those who live even further downstream.
As of Friday, Chevron says they've recovered about 600 out of the 800 barrels that were spilled. They won't know how many barrels were recovered during Saturday's flush until early next week.
Meanwhile, Chevron has started additional testing on the pipeline.
This past week, crews replaced a 20-inch portion of the pipe where the initial leak began. Now crews want to make sure it's safe to begin operations.
The plan is to put an environmentally-friendly dye in the pipeline.
"We are going to pressurize the pipeline after it's filled with water -- up to 300 pounds per square inch -- to see whether it holds without doing any leaking," Johnson said.
Chevron says inspectors will look from the air and ground for leaks. They will also ask anyone who may see the greenish-yellow dye coming from the pipe to contact them at 866-752-6340 or slcspill@chevron.com
If the pressure test is successful, Chevron will resume normal pipeline operations.
E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com
