02/29/2008: "Rescue Tug To be Pulled From Service"

In spite of repeated efforts by the County Council and environmental groups, the state-funded emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay will be taken out of service for the 2007-08 winter season on Friday, March 7.

Since 1999, the state has contracted to have an emergency response tug stationed at Neah Bay during the stormy winter season; but not year around. In August of 2006 the County Council agreed one of their priorities was to convince the legislator to provide funding for year-round tug protection.

Gov. Chris Gregoire has said she supports having a tug stationed year-round at Neah Bay, as a way to prevent oil spills from disabled ships in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the outer coast at all times.

On Thursday, the state Senate Ways and Means Committee yesterday proposed year-round funding for the tug, and House members are working to find money to keep a rescue tug stationed at Neah Bay.

If the Legislature elects to provide year-round funding, it’s possible a tug could be stationed as early as July 1, 2008. Otherwise, the tug could be on duty for the 2008-09 winter storm season.

Meanwhile, the tug will end its current winter season on March 7 – a total of 159 days. The 2007-08 deployment season is the shortest since the 2000-01 winter season, when the tug was deployed at Neah for 257 days.

The current contract to keep the Gladiator at Neah Bay costs $8,500 a day, plus another $500 per day for fuel and related expenses for vessel operations.

The 2007-08 winter season has been busy for the Gladiator, the emergency response tug owned and operated by the Crowley Maritime Corp. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) has worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to deploy the tug to assist six ships so far this season. These ships were significantly disabled, having either reduced steering or limited propulsion power.

The response tugs ensure disabled ships don't drift onto rocks and cause major or catastrophic oil spills. The tugs have stood by or assisted 40 ships that were disabled or had reduced maneuvering or propulsion capability while transporting oil and other cargo along the coast and through the strait.

Since 2002, state lawmakers have provided $1.4 million to the fund the tug, with the goal of providing about 200 days of emergency response tug service.

Dale Jensen, who oversees statewide spill prevention, preparedness and response activities for Ecology, said: “The Governor and state Legislature recognize the importance of having a tug stationed at Neah Bay so that we can continue this critically important safety mechanism either year round or at least next winter season.”

Jensen said the funding has been provided the past few years through the state transportation budget and in the dedicated “vessel response account.” The account also receives money from penalties issued to vessels that negligently cause oil spills in Washington waters.

“Preventing oil spills is our primary mission because we know that even under the best of conditions oil is difficult to clean up, but spills are impossible to contain in the bad weather our coast often experiences,” Jensen said.

Winter storms present a higher risk of oil spills from the more than 10,500 trips made by oil tankers and cargo ships traveling through the strait each year. Dry cargo ships can carry up to one million gallons of fuel, oil barges can carry more than 18 million gallons of oil and fuel, and oil tankers can carry up to 36 million gallons of oil cargo.

Beaches in the Olympic National Park, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and tribal lands are directly at risk for major oil spills since they are adjacent to the shipping route.

Jensen said a major spill could hurt Washington’s commercial fishing and shellfish industries, further endanger salmon runs, kill birds and marine mammals, ruin public and tribal beaches, and dampen tourism.