Spill Drill 2024: EWEB & partners practice containing hazardous materials spills on McKenzie River
EWEB led emergency responders in our annual “spill drill” on the McKenzie River this week at Finn Rock Boat Landing.
To conduct the drill, dozens of watershed scientists, firefighters, hazardous materials specialists, water operators and others waded into the river to set up a series of fast-water containment booms. The floating booms direct surface contaminants like oil into a skimmer that would remove them from the water. Team members control the booms with a series of ropes spanning the river.
EWEB coordinates the drill as part of the utility’s work to protect the McKenzie River – the source of drinking water for more than 200,000 residents of the Eugene metro area.
The annual drill brings together members of the McKenzie Watershed Emergency Response System (MWERS). More than a dozen local, state, and federal agencies participate, including McKenzie Fire & Rescue, Eugene-Springfield Fire Hazmat, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office, the Springfield Utility Board, City of Springfield, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Forest Service.
EWEB Environmental Specialist David Donahue coordinates the drill.
"We've got a lot of wonderful partners that we rely on, and a lot of great people that come to participate in this with the goal of trying to protect the McKenzie River," Donahue said. "It's obviously a very valuable resource for us and our community as it is our sole source of drinking water. But it's also important for recreation, for wildlife and plenty of other downstream drinking water providers. So it's just a great, experience to be with so many folks who are out here on a not so great weather day, practicing to protect this critical and valuable resource."
The system uses an emergency notification system and detailed mapping to give emergency crews information and instructions for containing spills at pre-designated deployment sites throughout the watershed.
Finn Rock Landing is an ideal location to capture contaminants in the case of an actual spill in the upper watershed. The Landing provides access to the McKenzie River far upstream of EWEB’s Hayden Bridge Water Treatment Facility and downstream of the town of Blue River. McKenzie River Trust recently upgraded the Landing, improving the boat ramp and amplifying the parking lot – making the site a reliable point of deployment in the MWERS strategy playbook.
