The Observer, December 2004

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ConocoPhillips tanker Texas is under scrutiny for Puget Sound’s mystery spill

ConocoPhillips, already involved in three unreported oil spills early this year, has become a suspect in a fourth incident: a mystery spill in Puget Sound.

The spill was at Dalco Passage, near Tacoma in south Puget Sound. Estimated at about 1,000 gallons, it was reported by a passing tugboat captain early on the morning of Oct. 14. Despite its relatively small size, it fouled over 20 miles of beaches, in part because of a slow response by agencies in the area.

Because no vessel or shipping company admitted responsibility for the spill, the Coast Guard began investigating all vessels in the area at the time, one of which was ConocoPhillips’ Polar Texas. Coast Guard investigators boarded the Texas in Valdez on Oct. 17 to take samples for comparison with oil collected from the Dalco Passage spill.

The agency boarded the vessel again on Nov. 5 at the ConocoPhillips refinery in Ferndale, Wash., and Seattle newspapers quoted unidentified sources as saying the Texas had become the primary focus of the Coast Guard investigation.

The Coast Guard, however, has refused to publicly confirm the claim. In a statement emailed to the Observer, ConocoPhillips spokesman Rich Johnson wrote that the company had not been made aware of any findings from the investigation. But, he said, “We do not believe we are the responsible party based upon our own ongoing internal inquiries and we continue to cooperate fully with the investigation.”

In Valdez, meantime, the Coast Guard, has begun routinely boarding each ConocoPhillips tanker docking at the Alyeska terminal to spot-check compliance with international and U.S. pollution prevention regulations. Commander Mark Swanson of the Coast Guard’s Valdez Marine Safety Office advised ConocoPhillips that the boardings were instituted only as a precautionary and preventative measure and were not investigative in nature.

The Polar Texas is a double-bottom vessel built in 1973. It was due for retirement in November as new double-hulled vessels enter the ConocoPhillips fleet and older vessels are taken out of service.

The earlier series of spills involving ConocoPhillips ships began in January of this year.

• A federal criminal investigation was launched for a spill to deck that took place on January 16, 2004, on the Polar Discovery. The incident was not reported to the Coast Guard as required by regulation or within the company as required by internal policies.

• The Coast Guard issued a letter of warning to the company for failure to report a March 16, 2004, spill of bunker fuel to the deck of the tanker Polar Endeavour.

• A second criminal investigation was begun for the alleged intentional bypassing of the oily water separator on the Polar Alaska. This device is used to clean bilge or ballast water before it is discharged overboard.

In an unrelated Alaska incident, ConocoPhillips was fined $485,000 by the federal government earlier this year for discharging poorly treated wastewater from its Tyonek natural-gas platform in Cook Inlet.