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<br />January 26, 2009 <br />CONTACT: <br />Project Manager Terry Colvin, 541-682-5398, Terry.R.Colvin@ci.eugene.or.us <br /> Stormwater Maintenance Supervisor Mike Spangler, 541-682-4834 <br />From Public Information Section, 682-5523 or 954-2938 <br />FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE <br />New Underground Vault Helped Keep Fuel Oil Out of Willamette River <br />A new stormwater quality vault completed less than a month ago passed its first real-world <br />test with flying colors this weekend. <br />Maintenance crews from the Eugene Public Works Department estimate the highly <br />engineered structure built at the north end of Polk Street captured much of the fuel oil that leaked <br />from a nearby petroleum distribution facility. The owner of the petroleum facility, Tyree Oil of <br />Eugene, had the underground vault pumped out on Sunday and is continuing to work with the <br />Public Works Department to clean any diesel fuel residues from the concrete chambers within the <br />vault and the connecting storm drains. <br />The City of Eugene in late December completed construction of the $775,000 stormwater <br />cleaning structure, located in Maurie Jacobs Park just a few hundred yards from the Willamette <br />River. The project was paid for using stormwater user fees. The structure serves an area of <br />approximately 750 acres of urban infrastructure in the greater metropolitan area of Eugene, <br />st <br />including the drainage area on West 1 Avenue where Tyree Oil is located. <br />The stormwater vault is designed to remove sediment, floatable debris, oils and other <br />materials able to be captured by mechanical means. Most of the fuel oil was separated out in a <br />portion of the vault that has an outlet several feet below the level of the stormwater in the chamber. <br />Fuel oil, which is lighter than water, rises to the top where it is skimmed off and collected until it is <br />vacuumed out of the vault. The three cleaning chambers can store as much as 18,000 gallons of <br />stormwater and pollutants. The chambers also are large enough that Public Works staff was able <br />to place floating booms inside the vault to further contain the fuel oil. Annually, the cleaning <br />chambers are designed to keep 65 tons of debris out of the Willamette River. <br /># # # <br />Eugene Public Works www.eugene-or.gov/pw <br />858 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon 97501 541-682-5523 fax 541-682-6826 e-mail pwadmin@ci.eugene.or.us <br />