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TRI VALLEY GROWERS EMERGENCY RESPONSE REPORT <br /> As reported by Kasey Foley -r_� <br /> San Joaquin County Environmental Health Division <br /> 7/7/94 <br /> Thursday <br /> 5:00 P.M. I rece ed an anonymous complaint that some black,smelly substance had drained into Bear <br /> Creek and killed some fish. I called the California Fish & Game (F&G) dispatch and asked <br /> them o send out a warden. <br /> 5:40 p.m. I rece' ed a phone call from San Joaquin County dispatch that notified me to go out to Bear <br /> Creek because F&G found no dead fish and it looked like Environmental Health should be <br /> invol d. I asked dispatch to have the F&G warden call me. <br /> 5:45 p.m. John tark,the F&G warden who responded to the call, phoned me and said he could find <br /> no de d fish but he would be willing to take some samples if he had some sampling jars. <br /> I told tark that I would come out and provide some jars. <br /> 6:30 p.m. I arriv d at Tri Valley Growers (TVG) and was met at the front gate by Bob Hancock, the <br /> produ tion manager. Hancock led me to the spill area where I found Stark with Dan <br /> Walla e, the plant manager. Stark had found some dead fish and polliwogs by this time <br /> and h showed them to me. We were then joined by more TVG employees Jeff Wong and <br /> Bill M. I noted the strong anaerobic-like smell and the impacted area. Wallace mentioned <br /> that h noticed the spill last night (the discharge was reported anonymously today at 5:00 <br /> p.m.) Wallace explained that apparently some waste, that was discharged through a <br /> pipeli a onto a field south of Bear Creek, must have somehow gotten into a "previously <br /> sealed pipeline" that was below the discharge line and drained back into the creek. The <br /> waste as from a pipeline that was being flushed to get rid of any old material that had <br /> been ' the line from the last time tomatoes were processed (which was last season). <br /> Hanco k stated that the pipeline has "..been there forever and never leaked before." <br /> Stark ok 3 samples (one for EHD, one for F&G and one for TVG) from each side of the <br /> dirt ro d, for a total of 6 samples. I placed my two samples on ice after sealing the jars <br /> with c stody tape. We agreed that both Stark and I would hold on to our samples and TVG <br /> would nalyze theirs. Warden Lori Oldfather of F&G arrived on scene and was briefed by <br /> Stark. Stark suggested getting the samples in as soon as possible so that we could get the <br /> creek eaned up. TVG personnel suggested pumping the contaminated water into their <br /> south eld if it proved to be non-hazardous. They said they are permitted to discharge to <br /> that fi d and have a permit through the California Regional Water Quality Control Board <br /> (CRW CB). Stark said that sounded like a good idea since he could think of no <br /> alterna ives. I mentioned damming the area until we received the results but Stark did not <br /> think at was a good idea,although he seemed quite concerned about not letting the waste <br /> wash d wnstream. Stark, Oldfather and I decided the analyses for the samples should be <br /> BOD, p , bioassay, and dissolved oxygen. We told TVG representatives our requirements <br /> for ana yses and then left the scene. <br /> Page 1 of 2 <br />