Two Chemical Spills Pour Pollutants Into Upper Newport Bay

Two chemical spills totaling about 10,000 gallons of pollutants combined Sunday to form a 4 1/2-mile-long, green-colored stream in an Irvine drainage channel and San Diego Creek, with some of the pollutants flowing into Upper Newport Bay.

First thought to be a single spill, the murky green liquid was discovered about 8 a.m. at the bottom of the slow-moving creek in Newport Beach near Jamboree Road, where the water flows into Upper Newport Bay. A rainbow-colored sheen formed on the surface above the green chemicals, prompting the Orange County Fire Department’s Hazardous Materials Response Team to guess early in the day that the pollutant was an oil-based hydrocarbon. By 9 p.m. workmen had cleaned up the spill, a county fire spokesman said.

Cleaning Compound

Lt. Col. Bobbi Weinberger, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Marine Corps Helicopter Air Station in Tustin where one of the spills originated, said the substance from the base was an aircraft cleaning compound.

Weinberger said she had no idea how much of the liquid was accidentally spilled from a catch basin near aircraft wash racks, but Jeff Simko, a Marine Corps environmental engineer, said 50 to 100 gallons of the cleaning fluid could pollute much as 10,000 gallons of water.

The origin of the second spill was unknown late Sunday, but officials had traced it to an area south of the Marine base.

Late in the afternoon, the U.S. Coast Guard assumed command of all cleanup operations. Because the scope of the operation was not known, spokesmen refused to estimate how much the effort would cost. Petty Officer Jimi Chiunate said the cleanup operation would take “a full work day.”

Company Retained

Wilmington-based IT Corp. was retained by the Coast Guard to handle the operation, which includes installing temporary dikes at three locations and vacuuming the polluted water from the creek.

Nothing could be done to retrieve the pollutants that had flowed into Upper Newport Bay, authorities said. The California Department of Fish and Game, one of half a dozen agencies cooperating in the cleanup, began investigating an unconfirmed report that the pollution had killed a number of fish in the bay.

Marine spokeswoman Weinberger said the spill from the Tustin base discharged into Peters Canyon Channel, something that occurs whenever “a tremendous amount” of aircraft are washed. The problem was recognized two or three years ago, she said, and “wash racks that won’t drain anywhere except into predesignated tanks” are under construction.

Marines, assisted by Coast Guard personnel, stopped the leak as soon as it was discovered Sunday. “We dammed it up, so it’s impossible for any more to get out,” Weinberger said.

Simko said the spill “likely occurred toward the end of last week.”

Weinberger identified the cleaner as “a detergent with a solvent, a distillate petroleum that contains phosphates like any detergent.” She said it is “a bit stronger than the average (household) detergent.”

Although the compound is “not at all dangerous to humans,” Weinberger said, “like any detergent, it certainly can harm fish.”

In an attempt to block the polluted water’s flow toward Newport Bay, the Irvine Public Works Department called in a crew to dam the creek with sandbags shortly before noon.

The cost of the operation will be assumed by the Coast Guard until the source of the second spill is determined. Those responsible for the spills will then be billed.