AGAWAM –  Tennessee Gas has recently finished cleaning up after two wetland violations on their pipeline project.

In a statement to Reminder Publishing, chairman of the Agawam Conservation Commission, Henry Kozloski, said the first violation took place on Aug. 10 at 11:05 a.m. He described the violation as a “minor earth disturbance in the edge of Wetland F.” He said during the violation “an area of approximately 91 square feet was disturbed.”

Kozloski said following the violation the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued Tennessee Gas a notice of non compliance. After being issued the notice, Tennessee Gas then completed a restoration plan, which was submitted to the DEP and approved on Aug. 19. Kozloski said the restoration work was finished on Sept. 1.

In the order of non-compliance issued for the Aug. 10 violation, the DEP outlined the steps Tennessee Gas needed to take following the violation. Tennessee Gas had to correct the violations by Aug. 14, submit confirmation of the compliance to DEP, submit a plan “to stabilize and reconstitute the altered surfaces of Wetland F, and to revegetate this portion of Wetland F.” Additionally, Tennessee Gas was required to “make every reasonable effort to maintain compliance with the certification and the regulations” of the Clean Water Act after Aug. 14.

He said the second violation, which took place on Sept. 1, consisted of “inadvertent return,” or unintentional release of drilling fluids to the ground surface or surface waters. The return, which he said “originated in upland east of the wetland, some of which had migrated into Wetland N.”

Kozloski said he was notified of the second violation by compliance monitor Nathan Senkow at 8 p.m. the day it took place. He said that Senkow had first seen the inadvertent return at 5:10 p.m., which was “approximately 250 feet from the HDD entry pit (near wetland flag N-196).”

During the violation, Kozloski said during the inadvertent return “approximately 100 galls of bentonite drilling fluid was released, a portion of which entered Wetland N.” He said in an attempt to clean the spill in “an area of approximately 140 feet” a “compost filter sock was installed.” Kozloski said at 6:50 p.m. the return was contained and “is being monitored.”

Following the immediate cleanup, Tennessee Gas submitted an Inadvertent Return Plan to the DEP, which was approved on Sept. 3. The plan was also approved by the conservation commission. He said following DEP’s approval, other measures taken to clean up the return included the vacuuming of the bentonite.

He said since then, the commission was notified the cleanup work outlined in the Inadvertent Return Plan was completed as of Sept. 15. Kozloski added that the town of Agawam had hired a peer reviewer “to be site during the construction of this project.” He said the peer reviewer would also “be making an inspection to certify the work has been completed.”

“Also, Tennessee Gas is required to have their environmental inspector on-site any time they are working in areas of jurisdiction,” he said.