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Call to Boost Oil-Spill Response

Posted on: Thursday, 28 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 28--The oil industry needs to quickly beef up its ability to control major oil spills in Washington waters, the state Department of Ecology said yesterday, citing a new study that says a major spill in the San Juan Islands could overwhelm protection efforts.

Ecology Director Jay Manning called on the oil industry to voluntarily boost resources for corralling a spill, but he said his agency will pursue new regulations to force the industry to do more.

"There is a clear need to improve response capacity in Washington," Manning said in a statement. "I urge the shipping and oil industry to start putting the resources in place now, and not wait for the regulations to take effect next year."

But the report's chief author questioned whether that conclusion could be drawn from the study. And an oil-industry official said he wondered why regulators were sounding the alarm when they have long accepted industry plans to handle catastrophic spills.

"The plans have been approved by the Department of Ecology, [which] says there's more than enough equipment to respond to those spills," said Frank Holmes, manager of the northwest region for the Western States Petroleum Association, an oil-industry trade group.

The report was ordered after last year's 1,000-gallon oil spill in Puget Sound's Dalco Passage off Tacoma. Problems with the response triggered scrutiny of the state's preparedness for an even bigger spill.

The report focused on whether enough vessels are available to contain and clean up a 420,000-gallon -- relatively major -- spill in Rosario Strait off San Juan Island. It concluded that responders would ideally want 11 to 42 more boats than are now available.

The scenario was designed to test whether a spill response could benefit from additional boats drawn from fishing fleets to help in case of an emergency. Most of the boats now come from clean-up companies hired by the oil industry to meet government regulations.

The report was done for the Ecology Department by Seattle consulting firm The Glosten Associates. Paul Smith, the lead author, said the hypothetical scenario represented a "dream team," in which oil spill responders were allowed to imagine as many vessels they thought ideal, regardless of cost.

"I think that to say that this report proves that there's a shortage of vessels is overstating what was done here," Smith said. Instead, he said, the study concludes simply that fishing vessels could help in case of a major oil spill.

Manning responded that the scenario did find gaps in handling spills, and of quantities far less than the millions of gallons that tankers routinely carry through the area.

"I want the best possible response scenario," Manning said. "I have no trouble telling anybody that's what I want for Puget Sound." And Ecology officials said they have concluded that the equipment shortfalls extend beyond the San Juan Islands, and likely affect the rest of the state coastline as well.

The changes sought by Manning could prove costly. And he said he would look first to the oil industry to foot the bill. One scenario -- training fishing vessels to help -- could cost $260,000 to start and $287,000 a year to keep running, according to the report.

Environmentalists said the report confirmed their warnings that the region isn't prepared for a large spill.

The findings also raise questions of whether there's enough oil-spill gear, such as protective booms, said Mike Sato, director of education and outreach for the environmental group People for Puget Sound.

Smith said his study found there are enough booms available.

The state has never had an oil spill of the magnitude envisioned in the report. But it has had close calls. In 2002, an oil tanker collided with a tugboat, flipping over the tug, said Ron Shultz, a policy adviser at the Ecology Department. The tug's propeller punctured a part of the tanker, but no oil spilled, Shultz said.

Manning said the department would gather industry representatives, environmentalists, government agencies and Indian tribes to consider how best to improve oil-spill protection.

Those recommendations could be included in revisions expected by mid-2006 to state preparedness standards for oil-carrying ships, refineries and other facilities.

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Source: The Seattle Times

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