September 2017 Berth 5 Oil Spill – Sampling Results and Interpretations

On 21 September 2017, an estimated 150 gallons of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil were accidentally released?during crude oil loading arm leak testing at Berth 5 of the Alyeska Marine Terminal. As part of the post-spill?monitoring efforts, mussels were collected from the same 3 Port Valdez stations annually sampled as part of the?PWSRCAC Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP). Collections at Saw Island (SAW) adjacent to?Berth 5, Jackson Point (JAC) east of Berth 3, and Gold Creek (GOC) across the port occurred on Sept 29-30 and?again, as a follow up, 70 days later on Dec 7-9, 2017 (Figure 1). Two of the sampling sites, SAW and JAC, bracket?the shoreline of the release location with the Saw Island site immediately adjacent (west) of Berth 5 (Figure 2). The GOC reference site is 6 km across the Port.?This report describes and illustrates the pre- and immediate post-spill hydrocarbon signatures plus the state of?recovery in Port Valdez mussels 70 days after the spill.