BY PEPPER FISHER

Port Angeles – With the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada this year, the number of oil tankers sailing from British Columbia through the Strait of Juan De Fuca, passing the Olympic Peninsula on their way to the Pacific Ocean, increased from 5 boats per month to as many as 34 per month. That’s an increase in fully loaded oil tankers of almost 700%, and a concerning new spill risk for the Pacific Northwest.

We have learned that the primary oil spill response team in Port Angeles has just laid off many of its employees and is putting its primary response ship up for sale, leaving them only a bare bones crew and a single barge to respond to an oil spill.

Federal and State regulations require that all oil-handling vessels have a plan in place to respond effectively to an oil spill. Instead of developing their own internal capabilities, many companies opt for contracting with an Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) to meet these requirements.

Marine Spill Response Corporation, or MSRC, is the nation’s largest such organization contracted by many of those companies. Their local branch is headquartered at the foot of the Tumwater Truck Route, and for years they have docked the 63-foot ship Park Responder at the Port of Port Angeles marina, ready for action. Caleb McMahon, the Port’s Director of Economic Development, told KONP that MSRC plans to sell that ship and maintain only a barge in the harbor. For the barge to respond to an oil spill, it will have to be moved around by a tugboat, which MSRC would hire from another company when needed.

When asked about the reduction in staff and resources in Port Angeles, a corporate spokesperson would only say that MSRC “is in the midst of a multi-year optimization effort”, and as part of that effort, “MSRC has modernized its assets and has reduced its headcount in certain locations.” They added that the changes “maintain MSRC’s ability… to respond to spill events in full compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.”

Jasmin Adams with the Washington State Department of Ecology says her agency is working to see to it that MSRC stays in compliance with those requirements after selling the Park Responder and shifting equipment and assets to other locations.

“Ecology….so, “Spills”, plans to ask for an appropriate backfill before those assets are moved or sold. And once they receive a plan from MSRC, we plan to evaluate the proposed plan to determine if it meets standards. And like you said, because this is such a significant change to their application and what they do, that is going to be subject to like a 30-day public review. And so people can put in their thoughts and their concerns. so that we can know what people are thinking in the community.”

Adams said they will not set a date for the public review until they have seen MSRC’s backfill plan. We can take some comfort in the meantime with the knowledge that Ecology has its own spill response teams and assets throughout the state, including Bellingham, Bellevue and Olympia.

“And we also make sure that there is equipment staged in the various places throughout the state. Sometimes we work with, like, fire departments, various Emergency Management places in the different counties, to work with them to make sure that equipment is staged. So, we really try to make sure that we have things that can be on the scene quickly, as well.”

Adams told us she would let us know when the public comment period begins for the MSRC proposed downsizing plan.

(Photo: Responder vessel going on the market)