Oil leak detected at Little Goose Dam
By Terry Murry on Thursday, October 27th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
STARBUCK – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District reports maintenance staff at Little Goose Lock and Dam confirmed this week it found an oil leak in a turbine and an undetermined amount of oil was released into the Snake River. The turbine is part of the hydropower generating system at the dam.
The corps is actively assessing the amount of oil lost and the duration of the leak. There are indications that between 300 to 600 gallons of oil leaked since late July. The oil is not recoverable, and there no sheen was ever noticed in the river. Technicians installed oil absorbent booms to capture any potential additional leaks.
The turbine has been put into a forced outage and has been isolated from the river as repairs are being made.
“Our team at Little Goose Dam took appropriate actions to remove the turbine from service, assess and contain the leak,” USACE Walla Walla District Operations Chief Paul Ocker said. “The turbine will remain out of service and isolated from the river until repaired.”
The district reports it has notified the appropriate regulatory and response agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, United States Coast Guard, Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, and Washington Department of Ecology.
