Faulty Industrial Pump Causes Oil Spill in Delaware River
On Jan. 27, 2014, 1,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the Delaware River due to a faulty industrial pump. According to a Daily Times News, a top union official said the pump was out of service and should have been dismantled, but it wasn't.
One Monroe Energy administrator, however, said the line had been checked and complied with all standards, and there were intentions to use the pipe and pump.
The line rupture, possibly caused by a pipe freezing and splitting due to the sub-zero temperatures, happened around 1 p.m. Twenty-four hours later a response clean-up crew was still working towards cleaning the spill.
"A line froze and split and the reason the line froze because it's connected to a pump," said Denis Stephano, president of the United Steelworkers Local 10-234. "It's an old pump that should have been dismantled and wasn't. The suction line and discharge line were still attached and this pump hadn't been used in years. It should have been demolished."
