Cleanup Begins at Norm's Island

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By MacLeod Hageman

Story Published: Jul 28, 2011 at 7:03 PM MDT

Story Updated: Jul 29, 2011 at 3:42 PM MDT

BILLINGS - Local dog lovers were afraid they'd lost a place for their pooches to lay due to the recent oil spill. ExxonMobil and the E.P.A. had special teams cleaning up Norm's Island.

Norm's Island is a conservation and education center located south of Billings along the Yellowstone River. It's also one of the only places people can let their dogs off leash to run around. Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique, or SCAT, teams evaluated the amount of oil damage at Norm's Island from the July 1 ExxonMobil spill. The next step is major cleanup. "The water just must have went through and left traces of oil all over the grass. It gets pretty black and sticky, and we go in there and clip it, pull it, or whatever we have to do to get it out of there," Field Technician Nathan Hamburg said.

Cleanup was underway for a couple weeks, but got more detailed. About 40 people were on site Thursday and expected to stay for up to three months. "As far as I know, our crew is going to be in here as long as it takes to clean everything," Hamburg said.

Experts said the Island's vegetation suffered the most by Exxon's spill. "The distribution of the oil has been really erratic. You will see an entire field of grass, you'll see just one blade of grass covered in oil," Environment Technician Erica Nyquist said.

Erica Nyquist, a senior at the University of Montana, said she's proud to help restore Norm's Island, and her coworker felt the same. "It just feels great. This stay has really given me a lot because I've lived here most of my life, and it feels great to give back to the community," Nyquist said.

"People like to come here, and we want to keep our town happy. This is our town so I'm happy to be here," Hamburg said.

SCAT teams checked the area after the cleanup to ensure its quality. Exxon officials said workers remained in the area until cleanup was complete. Norm's Island will remain closed until further notice.

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