Agricultural Chemical Spill Response Agricultural Chemical Spill Response Minnesota Department of Agriculture

What is an AgChem Spill? Definition: A release to the environment of a pesticide or fertilizer. Pesticides are herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. Fertilizers are anhydrous ammonia, urea, , UAN, etc.

Ag Chem Incidents in MN From 100 to 150 per year Most occur in the spring and fall Contamination requires a lot of effort to remediate Anhydrous ammonia accounts for 25% of spills

Five Steps of a Spill Response 1. Secure 2. Telephone 3. Abate 4. Recover 5. Remediate

STARR  Acronym for Secure, Telephone, Abate, Recover, and Remediate. STARR  serves to guide you through a spill. Its order will change depending on the type of spill.

Example: Spray Tank Rupture Crack occurred in fiberglass spray tank. Atrazine/Extrazine tankmix released immediately. Near home well. Soil slopes away from well.

Secure Site Keep children away. Secure site from pets and livestock. Wear correct personal protective clothing. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Abatement (Contain and Control) Sudden spills are difficult to stop. You are left with trying to control the spread of the tankmix. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Telephone STARR Local authorities 911 if danger to life or property State authorities Minnesota Duty Officer at 1 (800) National Response Center if the amount spilled exceeds its reportable quantity Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Abatement (Contain) Pump up liquid. Dike area if spill occurred during storm or if excavation is delayed. Follow any applicable guidance. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Recover Spilled Product If digging required in ditch (see arrow) call Gopher State One-Call (Minnesota) prior to any excavation to determine presence of buried utilities. (800) STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Recovery (Excavation) Backhoe, skidsteer, tractor mounted bucket can all be used to dig. Plan on where to store it. Is land available now for spreading? Will I have to wait till fall? STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Recovery (How deep?) Government officials may assist you in soil sampling to determine adequacy of cleanup, if sampling is necessary. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Stock Piling Soil Place on impermeable surface. Cover with plastic to prevent runoff. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Remediate (Land Spreading) Calculate yards in pile. 60 yards. Amount in spray tank? 10 acre tankmix. Yards per acre. 60/10=6 yards per acre. Apply at ½ rate. 3 yards over 20 acres. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Remediation (Land Spreading) ½ rate is intended to prevent hotspots. Manure spreaders and fert or lime spreaders work well. Can be commercially done. MDA preapproval needed. STARR Example: Spray Tank Rupture

Cleanup Costs Reimbursement ACRRA Agricultural Chemical Response and Reimbursement Account Surcharge funded account on industry to reimburse costs associated with ag chem incident cleanups.

Cleanup Fund (ACRRA) Fund to reimburse costs in cleaning up agchem spills. Will not cover costs of lost product. First $1,000 is out of pocket. 80% of eligible costs up to $350,000. (Maximum reimbursement of $279,200). Most emergency cleanups will cost less than $1,000.

Create an Incident Contingency Plan A plan to protect employees, property, business, environment, and emergency responders from any release of hazardous materials at your site.

In Summary  Secure, Telephone, Abate, Recover, Remediate  Work with local and state officials  ACRRA cost recovery  Prevent future spills