The Observer, May 2004

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Is Alyeska ready for non-crude oil spills?

By John Devens, Executive Director

Like the public in general, we at the citizens’ council focus primarily on the threat of crude oil spills in Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez disaster was, after all, a central event in the history of Alaska.

But non-crude spills are also a risk. Tens of thousands of gallons of products such as diesel are used to power and lubricate oil tankers and the fleet of Alyeska vessels that support and escort them. Alyeska is required to be able to clean up spills of these products, the same as for North Slope crude.

Unfortunately, an incident late last month near Valdez has raised worrisome questions about Alyeska’s ability to do so.

The incident was a small spill of diesel fuel in Jack Bay, the site of a state marine park just outside Valdez Narrows. The spill – from an Alyeska-chartered tug called the Pathfinder – occurred during an Alyeska-sponsored training exercise for the fleet of fishing vessels that are on call to help clean up spills. As I’ll detail below, numerous vessels and personnel were on scene and the wind was nearly calm in the sheltered bay.

Nevertheless, the spill escaped containment and went on to contaminate some 500 yards of shoreline, despite the fact that no more than 50 gallons of diesel are estimated to have reached the water.

How is it that the elaborate response system put in place after the Exxon Valdez was unable to deal with a small spill in the middle of a training exercise?

Some 30 fishing boats were assembled in Jack Bay the morning of April 28, together with two response barges, two tugs and various work boats from Alyeska’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, or SERVS. The plan was to conduct training in response techniques and strategies using all of the assembled personnel and equipment.

Shortly before 8 a.m., the Crowley tug Pathfinder reported a diesel spill of approximately 20 gallons, with perhaps five gallons reaching the water. By 8:20 a.m., the SERVS Incident Management Team had been activated and the Pathfinder had been boomed off, with absorbents placed inside the boom to collect the diesel. Helicopter overflights began and by 10:00 a.m., there were reports of a diesel sheen measuring 100 by 300 yards heading towards Tongue Point at the mouth of Jack Bay.

With the failure of initial booming around the Pathfinder, the training exercise had suddenly become a real spill response.

Unfortunately, it was a largely ineffective response. The fishing vessels towed various booms into place, but in most cases the sheen escaped under the booms. By early afternoon, reports were coming in of diesel on the shoreline around Tongue Point.

Response efforts continued, but shoreline contamination increased. By the end of the day, around 500 yards of shoreline were contaminated with diesel and some estimates of the amount reaching the water had risen to 50 gallons.

The Jack Bay spill clearly suggests major gaps in the SERVS response system. But it’s not clear that Alyeska has learned this lesson. Much of a post-spill briefing on the Jack Bay incident was focused on what went right, rather than on the fact that the response was almost completely ineffective.

Alyeska attributes some of its problems to the fact that the product spilled was diesel, arguing that its equipment is less effective at containing and recovering refined products than crude oil.

The company also argues that, in general, standard practice is for less aggressive recovery efforts with spills of diesel because it evaporates or disperses faster than crude. If so, this incident would seem to demonstrate it’s time for these practices to be revised, and for SERVS to add equipment capable of handling diesel spills to its arsenal.

Whether the problems were a matter of technique, equipment, tactics, management, complacency, or outdated practices, the performance at Jack Bay was unacceptable. Alyeska must take whatever steps are needed to be sure it can meet its responsibility to respond effectively to non-crude spills.

• John Devens is executive director of the citizens’ council.