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EMVERGENCY RESPONSE INVESTIGATION REPORT (CONTINUED) NARRATIVE 14253 S. Airport Way,Manteca CA 95336 February 22, 2000 12:15PM — Donna Heran received a report from Suprema Cheese that they had released 3,000 gallons of cheese wastewater into the irrigation ditch. They stated that the wastewater was 6 inches deep in some areas. They also stated that they had a pumper truck on the way to pump the waste out of the ditch. 12:40PM—Alison Youngblood was paged on Emergency Response. 1:30PM—Alison Youngblood, EHS and Letitia Briggs, Sr. REHS, arrived on scene. Dan DaSilva, Project Manager led us to the location of the release. He stated that the pond on the most east side of the property has two pumps, one to work and one for standby. During a recent storm, both pumps had been damaged, and rendered inoperable. The facility had begun to use a rented pump to pump the wastewater from the plant to the east pond. At about 11A they noticed that the pond had overflowed onto the ground and into the nearby irrigation ditch. The irrigation ditch runs into the S. San Joaquin Irrigation District Canal and according to Mr. DaSilva approximately a 20 square foot area had been impacted in the canal. Mr. DaSilva had then notified State OES, County OES,and PHS-EHD. He estimated that 3,000 gallons had been released based on what he saw in the ditch. Mr. DaSilva stated that the wastewater in the pond was water, whey, and cleaning products. He stated that they use caustic (sodium hydroxide) and phosphoric acid as cleaning products at the facility. It was not raining yet. 1:50PM — We began our tour of the spill area. The smell at the pond area was overwhelming, despite the fact that it was raining heavily at this time. The land on the southwest of the east pond showed evidence of the spill, white murky water had settled in patches and there was white debris on the ground. The irrigation ditch had approximately 12 inches of fluid running through it. The water in the ditch was also murky white, showing evidence of the spill. Dan DaSilva stated that they had called Drain Patrol out to clean up, but they had shown up unprepared for this incident. At this time, a rental pump was being used to pump water out of the irrigation ditch at the western end of the ditch. Suprema Cheese did not have enough hose for the pumped out water to reach the nearest holding pond, so they were draining the water onto the ground near the ditch. At this time I recommended that they try to get more hose at the facility so that the wastewater could be appropriately drained into a holding pond. Mr. DaSilva went into the plant to arrange to bring more hose onsite. During our conversation, Mr. DaSilva indicated that the water from the holding ponds is used by Mr. DeGruuts from across the street for irrigation purposes. 2:30PM— I called Fish and Game to confirm that they had been notified. Sue said that the OES control number was 00-0838, and that the warden had been notified at 12:1 SPM. I requested that they call me back to let me know if they would be responding. I attempted to call Louie Pratt from the CRWQCB,but he did not answer his cell phone.