New
Waverly Oil Spill 2024
On
February 22, 2024, at 11:24 AM, the Texas Department of Emergency Management
notified the US Environmental Protection Agency by email of a discharge of 500
barrels of crude oil from the Paleo Oil Company tank battery near New Waverly,
Walker County, Texas. According to the Inspector with the Texas Railroad
Commission, an electrical failure caused the overflow detection system to
malfunction. The oil overflowed the tank battery containment and travelled
approximately 0.2 miles to a farm pond. No discharge of water or oil from
the pond occurred. If oil were to discharge from the farm pond, it would travel
downgradient to East Sandy Creek, then to West fork of the San Jacinto River (a
water of the US). The Responsible Party has three vacuum trucks, an excavator,
and booms on the farm pond on-site. About 142 people live within a one-mile
radius of the incident, with no Environmental Justice Indexes exceeding the
80th percentile.
EPA
Actions and Roles:
EPA’s
technical assistance contractor (START) was activated to observe, document and
communicate to the EPA On-Scene Coordinator conditions at the site. The spill
location is in the EPA Area of Responsibility; therefore, EPA is the lead
agency.
