Oil spill occurs at Lake Eddleman

Graham Luminant Power Plant reported a spill today of an “unknown quantity” of lubrication oil into Lake Eddleman, the city’s primary surface water supply.

At 2:55 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, Graham City Manager Eric Garretty was notified the power plant reported the spill. Further investigation by power plant and city of Graham employees was completed regarding the scope of the spill.

“It was determined that a small quantity of lubrication oil had spilled into Lake Eddleman and formed a small slick with dimensions of approximately 10 feet by 40 feet,” Garretty said in a press release. “A hazmat cleanup team (was) enroute and expects to commence booming and cleanup operations at approximately 6:30 p.m.”

The city water treatment plant was not taking water from the lake when the spill occurred. According to the city manager, city employees are monitoring the situation and will not take in additional water from the lake until the spill is mitigated.

“The city’s water supply is safe and no contamination from this spill has entered the city’s water system,” Garretty stated. “The city will follow standard operating procedures for testing and evaluation of water from Lake Eddleman prior to resumption of water treatment operations.”

Garretty said the city anticipated no long-term impacts as a result of the spill and expects to resume normal operations once the hazard mitigation team has completed its work.

The Graham Leader will continue to monitor the situation and report as information becomes available.