Animals are emerging from hibernation at the Tinicum refuge. One turtle died from breathing oil.

By Sandy Bauers INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

NEWARK, Del. - SUN No. 010 had been having a bad week. First, the weather became unseasonably warm. Then there was the commotion of large machinery in a wildlife refuge that is normally much quieter.

So the turtle, a red-eared slider, emerged from hibernation into a world it could not even have dreamed of, assuming turtles dream at all.

The animal was coated with oil. It positively reeked of it.

While the turtle had been deep in the muck, a weld in a Sunoco Inc. underground pipeline at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum had cracked, leaking more than 170,000 gallons of crude oil into the soil and a nearby pond.

So before the turtle had even had a chance to bask in the afternoon sun, humans had grabbed it, given it a number, stuffed it into a plastic bin and driven it for an hour to another place, where other humans doused it with detergent, scrubbed its shell and dabbed its skin.

Now, wildlife veterinarian Erica A. Miller was yanking on its tail to extend it from its shell and sticking in a needle, drawing blood.

The same thing happened to at least 17 more of the animal's mud mates as of yesterday's count - including a red-bellied turtle, listed as a threatened species in Pennsylvania, plus snapping turtles, an eastern painted turtle, and more sliders.

Crews mopping up the spill spotted the first of the turtles Wednesday. Workers at Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research Inc., an organization that responds to oil spills and rehabilitates wildlife, began shuttling the turtles to their Newark base.

Each animal was given a complete turtle physical. Veterinarians listened to their hearts and lungs, looked in their mouths and eyes, and checked their cloacas, which are basically multipurpose elimination tracts.

Their blood samples were sent to the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Chester County to check their enzymes and liver functions, as well as determine the presence of hydrocarbons. Finding them would mean that the turtles had been covered in oil while still underground instead of briefly coated as they emerged. The spill was discovered Feb. 5.

Virginia Pierce, a veterinarian and executive director of Tri-State, said most of the turtles looked healthy so far, gauging by how they were moving around. Two that were sluggish were kept aside for more rigorous observation.

One red-eared slider died because it had breathed oil into its lungs, said Pierce, who for years was a pathologist at the Philadelphia Zoo.

The rest were placed in large plastic tubs of water, where workers picked them up from time to time to sniff them for oil fumes and check for a sheen on the water.

Sunoco, which could face fines from the spill, also may be required to make some sort of restitution - funds or programs - for damage done to the refuge's plant and animal life.

Wildlife officials have said the effects could be both far-reaching and subtle, taking months - even years - to become apparent.

As for the turtles, Pierce said the oil could irritate their skin enough to cause open sores. Unlikely to heal in an aquatic environment, the sores could lead to a turtle's death.

Also, hydrocarbons in the blood could affect the liver and kidneys or depress red blood cell production, all of which would prompt "a subtle and gradual debility."

Turtles do not eat much when they emerge from hibernation, because their metabolism is still slow, so Pierce did not believe they had ingested much, if any, oil.

When the turtles are released, Pierce said, Tri-State and the refuge want to affix radio transmitters to monitor them for perhaps a year.

Veterinarians at Tri-State, founded in 1977 as a bird-rescue group, have responded to spills all over the world, and have treated frogs, beavers, muskrats, snakes and other creatures.

The greatest number of turtles found at the Tinicum refuge, the red-eared sliders, are not native to this region, but once were common as pets. It's not surprising that people who did not want them released them at the urban refuge, said refuge manager Dick Nugent.

On Friday, Pierce also talked with Sunoco about setting up large tanks of water to rinse oiled frogs at the spill site. Spring peepers, among the earliest frogs to emerge each spring, would likely be in upland ponds instead of the large impoundment where the spill occurred, Nugent said, but the possibility remained that some would be oiled.

"We need to be ready," Pierce said. "With turtles, we have about a two- to three-hour window. With frogs, rinsing them needs to be in a matter of minutes." Frogs would be much more susceptible than turtles to irritants and toxins in the oil.

On Friday, Tri-State workers also picked up an oiled Canada goose from the refuge. It later died. Officials had been relieved that the ice and the commotion of the cleanup had kept many birds away.

Pierce said, however, that this one may not have been contaminated at the spill site. Finding single oiled birds is not uncommon in industrial regions.

The workers took an oil sample from the bird's feathers and will test to see if it matches the chemical "fingerprint" of the spilled Sunoco oil.

SUN No. 010, meanwhile, remained in its Delaware tub.

http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/2000/Feb/28/city/STURT28.htm

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), February 28, 2000

Answers

So now the tally is up to 170,000 gallons spilled. The initial reports of this spill were only 32,000 gallons. I wonder how much more they're going to discover as they keep pumping up the mess?

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 28, 2000.

This happens all the time. The public should be up in arms about it, But the only time the public raises hell is when the price of gas goes up.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), February 28, 2000.

The most horrible thing about this report is the turtle. They can't vocalize, he couldn't scream. Thinking about the agony of that silent death brings it home, doesn't it.

-- little wifey (littlewifey@home.com), February 28, 2000.