Panel lists new steps for oil-spill readiness

By Warren Cornwall
Seattle Times staff reporter

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The preliminary findings discussed at a meeting yesterday show widespread agreement that the state and federal governments need reforms in the wake of the October Dalco Passage oil spill that hit 21 miles of South Puget Sound shorelines.

"There were problems. They existed," said Tim Thompson, the consultant facilitating the 14-member task force established by Gov. Gary Locke and Coast Guard Rear Adm. Jeffrey Garrett after the Dalco spill.

Among the recommendations, government agencies should:

• Err on the side of caution on first reports of a spill by investigating them. Procedures for taking calls should be standardized between agencies.

• Find better ways to inform various agencies about a possible spill.

• Study existing plans to ensure vital natural habitat is targeted for protection in a spill.

• Study state-of-the-art technology for spill detection and what Washington state needs.

A number of the recommendations bear directly on the Dalco Passage incident. Department of Ecology officials say a duty officer made a mistake in the early hours of Oct. 14 by not ordering an immediate investigation when a tugboat operator reported seeing thick, black oil over nearly an acre of water. That response also was hampered by conflicting reports from other agencies that just a thin "sheen" of oil was reported.

At daylight, as reports of a spill poured in, heavy fog made the equipment on hand for monitoring the spill largely useless. Numerous local agencies complained they weren't quickly notified of the spill. And some residents on Vashon and Maury islands complained cleanup efforts overlooked important habitat.

Michael LaTorre, a task-force member and regional vice president of the Marine Spill Response Corp., said the call for more aggressive initial response to reports of a spill were the most important recommendations for averting a repeat of the incident.
 
"They should be on the side of reacting, overreacting," said LaTorre, whose company cleans up spills and is funded by the oil industry.

While there was broad agreement on the need for more public involvement in oil-spill prevention and cleanup, the task force repeatedly has foundered on the question of how to achieve that. Some environmental and citizen representatives have pressed for a robust, full-time citizen council that could more aggressively work in the public interest. Others warned such a group might duplicate existing efforts or create a more adversarial relationship among different interests.

The group also failed to agree on an interim measure to hire someone to act as an oil-spill expert on behalf of citizens. That remains on the table as the group works through the final details of its recommendations. It's scheduled to issue a final report in early January.

The recommendations would cost at least tens of thousands of dollars.

Among the potential costs: roughly $40,000 to study models of how citizens get involved in oil-spill response planning, another $35,000 to $65,000 to further study spill-detection technology, and money to develop a network of trained volunteers.

That bill could rise into the millions if more equipment is called for, such as advanced radar or laser systems that can look through fog or darkness to track a spill.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com