Pepco Slow to Respond to Oil Spill, Officials Say

The response to the Pepco oil spill that sent approximately 4,000 gallons of mineral oil into the Potomac River in January was loaded with errors from the company as well as from GenOn, owner of the Potomac River Coal Plant in north Old Town, according to City of Alexandria officials.

During last week’s City Council meeting, Alexandria Fire Department Battalion Chief John North said Pepco and GenOn both had response equipment to react to the spill but personnel with both companies “didn’t know where it was or how to access it.”

North said his department along with representatives from City Hall recently met with Pepco and GenOn to discuss the spill. Both companies agreed to keep the Alexandria Fire Department informed and involved in staff training and equipment inventory in the future.

“What we found out is that Pepco and GenOn were not communicating with each other,” North said. “GenOn has the plant. Pepco does the transition. And they were acting like individual parties.”

North said his department’s response was hampered by a nine-hour delay on Pepco’s part in notifying the city of the spill. North said there was also a considerable delay in notifying the public.

“They admitted this was an error made,” North said. “They said they have made plans that this will not happen again.”

The spill occurred early in the morning of Jan. 23. An oil leak resulted from a broken Pepco intake pipe that separated from an electric transformer. Much of the coolant oil flowed into an emergency reservoir, but about 4,000 gallons made it into the Potomac.

Mayor Bill Euille requested a briefing on the spill in front of council.

“This is incredibly frustrating to hear,” Councilman Rob Krupicka said. “It sounds like there was a series of poor planning, coordination and execution that led to this and just sort of compounded this.”

During North’s briefing, Councilwoman Del Pepper remarked, “This is like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.”

North said Pepco is looking at the response to the spill as "lessons learned," which prompted exasperated laughter from the council.

North said the best thing the city could do was to stay after Pepco and GenOn.

“The spill is yet another example of the financial and environmental burden the GenOn Potomac River Coal Plant places upon the City of Alexandria,” Sierra Club Field Organizer Phillip Ellis told Patch. “The city receives all of these headaches, but little, if any, power from this plant. When will enough be enough?” 

Ellis is spearheading the GenOff campaign, aimed at closing the plant, along with members of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light and Greenpeace.

Pepco is continuing to monitor the cleanup site.