1. Vance Street Pond AKA “Duck, Duck, Goose”
Lakewood, Colorado
January 19, 2017 to February 28, 2017

2. Vance Street Pond
01/19/2017 – EPA received notification from the NRC regarding geese and ducks appearing to be covered in a dark substance similar to oil at a large pond behind an office building in Lakewood, Colorado.
The pond is fed by storm drains and eventually discharges to Bear Creek.
EPA Phone OSC went to the pond in late afternoon but found no evidence of distressed waterfowls.
US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) went to the pond separately and found dead and distressed ducks and geese.
01/20/ With this new information, EPA Response OSC went to the pond again.

3. Vance Street Pond Location

4. Vance Street Pond Initial Observations

7. Vance Street Pond Removal Action
Photoionization detector (PID) did not yield any positive results.
START contractor took samples of pond water and floating substance. Initial analyses included fatty acid profile, gasoline range organics (GRO), diesel range organics (DRO), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC).
Background samples from a nearby pond with similar setting were also collected.

9. Vance Street Pond
ERRS Contractors deployed booms and collected floating substance on 01/20/2017 and 01/21/2017.
FWS collected over 20 dead ducks and geese to perform necropsies and other analyses.
Lakewood Animal Control, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), FWS, and Colorado Parks and Wildlife collaborated capturing live geese which were later transported to Greenwood Animal Rehabilitation Center.

11. Vance Street Pond Set Backs
01/27/2017 reports came indicating additional floating substance was observed and more birds were impacted.
Analytical results of the water and floating substance on the pond did not show any GRO, only a small amount of DRO, and some fatty acids (traces of linoleic and behenic acids). Additional water samples were collected to test for glycol, surfactant, and metals.

12. Vance Street Pond
The City of Lakewood inspected manholes, storm drains, undertaking dye traces to determine the source of materials found in the pond.
01/30/2017, a meeting was held between Lakewood Police Department, Lakewood Public Works Department, FWS, and EPA. FWS stated analyses from their Ashland Lab did not yield any conclusive results but offered to give some of the feathers from impacted geese to EPA.
02/01/2017 EPA lab was set up to receive feathers but FWS decided they would no longer share any feathers nor would they provide EPA with necropsy reports.
EPA contacted Greenwood Animal Rehabilitation and was told that the geese smelled strongly of cooking oil.

13. Vance Street Pond
02/02/2017 – more reports of floating substances of impacted birds.
Lakewood Animal Control captured an impacted goose. START contractor assisted in transporting the goose to Greenwood Animal Rehabilitation Center and were met by an EPA toxicologist and veterinarian and a FWS eco-toxicologist detailed to EPA. The goose was examined and feathers were collected.
One of the EPA lab personnel provided “background” feathers from a healthy goose. Both sets of feathers were analyzed.
A sediment sample was screen for mercury because one of the recovering geese showed signs of neurological damage. Only background levels were found.

14. Vance Street Pond
There appeared to be a pattern of floating substance appearing on the pond towards the end of the week.
02/08/ As a precautionary measure, sorbent booms were placed at the inflows of the pond to minimize grease trap liquids from entering the pond.

16. Vance Street Pond
02/13/ Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) showed oleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid on the methylene chloride extraction of impacted feathers. These fatty acids were not found on the healthy feathers.
Oleic acid was also found in the floating substance.
Metals in water and sediment samples appeared to approximate background levels and did not pose any threat to human health.

18. Vance Street Pond
02/20/2017 sorbent booms at the inflows of the pond were replaced.
03/02/2017 the last set of booms were removed. EPA Emergency Response considered the project completed.

19. Vance Street Pond Challenges
Owner of office building was selling/sold the building and demanded a “clean letter” from EPA.
FWS not willing to share necropsy reports/feathers.
Conflicting observations from various individuals.