Case: Chalk Point, MD
Date of incident: April 7, 2000.
Location: Chalk Point/Swanson Creek, Maryland (near Aquasco, Maryland).
Settled, restoration nearing completion.
Overview: On April 7, 2000, a leak was detected in a 12-inch underground
pipeline that supplies oil to the Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) Chalk
Point generating station in Aquasco, Maryland. Approximately 140,000 gallons of
fuel oil spilled into Swanson Creek, a small tributary of the Patuxent River.
The spilled oil was a mix of No. 6 oil, which is normally transported by the
pipeline to generate electricity, and No. 2 oil, a much lighter oil being used
as part of a cleaning process. On the night of April 8, severe weather
conditions caused oil to breach booms that had been deployed spreading oil
into the Patuxent River for approximately 17 linear miles downstream. About 40
miles of environmentally sensitive downstream creeks and shorelines were oiled
as a result. The spill resulted in lost recreational use, damage to wetlands
and beach shorelines, and injuries to muskrats, birds and waterfowl, fish and
shellfish, diamondback terrapins, and benthic communities. The trustees have
undertaken a series of restoration projects to address
natural resource and lost use injuries associated with the fuel