Islands’ Oil Spill Association December 2015 Newsletter

Dear IOSA Responders, Supporters and Friends. We have a lot to report to you since our last update … and we’re happy to say it’s mostly good news, at least in the local spill response world. In the past two years, there has been only one incident that required IOSA to call out trained responders for a full response (boom deployment, recovery & clean-up), when a 36’ vessel sank in its slip while tied to the dock in Shipyard Cove, just outside Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, in April 2015. With an undetermined amount of diesel on board, IOSA was hired by the U.S. Coast Guard to deploy boom around the sunken vessel and initiate recovery of diesel already spilled into the water while plans were made with Vessel Assist to plug the vents and raise the boat. Five IOSA responders ended up spending a total of 55 hours on the two-day response, recovering and disposing of six bags of diesel-soaked sorbents. Of the other 30 times IOSA has been called/paged since the beginning of 2014, seven have required IOSA responders to do on-site assessment. The remaining reports to IOSA were for small incidents that were resolved quickly by vessel operators, marina personnel, etc. or were for a substance, such as algae, that turned out to not be a petroleum product or anything that required intervention. Since IOSA began, there have been over 600 reports and more than 120 clean-ups, containments or wildlife responses. We have continued to work on enhancing the various aspects of preparation for both large and small oil spills, including equipment improvement & replacement, responder training for existing responders and new recruits and, of course, finding the funds to allow us to do the best work we can do. Because of the possibility of increased tanker traffic within just a few years, we have focused a lot on all aspects of protecting the western parts of the San Juan Islands, such as the waters and shorelines of west Orcas, west San Juan and Stuart Island.

2300’ of yellow boom can be seen in the foreground of this aerial photo taken by Rex Ritchie during IOSA’s containment drill at Deer Harbor, southwest side of Orcas Island, in Oct 2015. An important part of effective spill response is having secure attachments for the boom on land. IOSA installed a permanent rock anchor bolt on the west side of the harbor several years ago and at this drill, a very effective shore attachment plate was used to secure the 2300’ of boom in a mixed cobble substrate on the east side of the bay.

The yellow containment boom is set further out from the sunken vessel so oil/fuel moving with the current as it rises will surface where it should … inside the boom.

Containment/Boom Deployment/Open Water Skimming and Shoreline Protection Strategies

We also had drills in Small Pox and Mitchell Bays on the west side of San Juan Island and another in Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island. IOSA has done a number of drills in both Reid and Prevost Harbors over the years and the latest one in April 2015 gave us the opportunity to improve substantially in the effectiveness of the boom deployment strategy, shore attachment locations and positioning.

After several challenging field tests at the east entrance to Prevost Harbor, the 1600’ outward-pointing V with rock bolt attachments on either side set this past spring was the most effective and practical boom configuration we have found for this important and vulnerable area. The photo to the right, another great aerial shot from Rex, was taken when anchor points were in process of being pulled into position. During our 2014 Prevost drill, a shore crew attaches boom to a previously-installed rock bolt at the rocky west side of the west entrance to Prevost Harbor ( in the photo below). Very tricky waters in which to navigate!

IOSA crew members work on the Sea Goose & the Green Heron during our open-water oil collection drill in President’s Channel, west side of Orcas Island, in Sept 2014, with the skimmer set up on the bow of the Sea Goose & the crew deploying boom. Crew members then went to shore near Camp Orkila to practice with shoreline oil collection gear and techniques.

And one more on-the water event to mention…in May 2013, IOSA had the opportunity to provide instruction and orientation for a spill response team from McMurdo Research Station at the southernmost point of Antarctica. It was a two-day training in boom deployment, containment and recovery, including using a skimmer. In addition to sharing our knowledge and experience with a group from so far away and the sense of helping to protect this amazing place on Earth, we also earned IOSA some income to help pay for other things we do.

Equipment Improvement/Replacement: a focus for 2014-2015 grant requests Two new enclosed cargo trailers were acquired through a 2014-2015 grant, and each is for response equipment storage to accompany the boom trailers already stationed at Bayhead Marina on Orcas and Roche Harbor Marina on San Juan Island. This arrangement enables us to have all initial response equipment on hand and available more promptly when the need arises. An open-topped landscape trailer was acquired and carries 1700’ of boom; it replaces the boom trailer at Bayhead Marina that IOSA purchased used after the Texaco spill response in 1991. The Roche Harbor boom trailer was donated new to IOSA in 1990 and has done a good job for 25 years but definitely needed some major attention. A great IOSA crew of skilled volunteers took on the project in the summer of 2015 and completely rebuilt it and it is now ready for many more years of service, carrying 1100’ of boom that can be launched within minutes. Thanks so much, you guys!

Another very useful piece of equipment, a portable generator (in photo at left, now stored on our primary vessel), is needed for many jobs, including powering on-shore drilling in bedrock for very strong rock bolt attachments for the boom when there is no other good attachment point. In addition, through grant funding, we purchased 2 new handheld VHF marine radios to replace the ones we’ve had for many years that no longer work reliably.

As of 2015, IOSA has field-tested all of the 59 Geographic Response Plans in SJ

County (bays where protection strategies are called for by regulatory agencies).

Protection strategies for high priority & most challenging bays have been field-

tested by IOSA 4-8 times, with improvements that build on what we

learned from weather & current the thetime before.

These bays include: Fisherman Bay (8), Mud & Hunter Bay (6), Westcott Bay (6),

False Bay (4) and Prevost Harbor (5)

(GRP field tests are scheduled for the Saturday/Sunday of the month that has the

strongest day-time flood tide.)

And a recent and great addition to our response effectiveness were three shoreline attachment plates (see photo above), which cost $240 each, and were in part funded by a grant. First used at the Stuart Island drill in 2014, these wonderful tools enable us to have very secure shoreline attachments in mixed coarse, mixed cobble and sand/mixed cobble when there is no rock bolt installed and no huge, properly-shaped boulder to which the boom can be attached via heavy chain as shown above.

Wildlife Search & Rescue and Primary Care Training

As some of you already know, IOSA can be called upon at any time to provide trained and certified oiled wildlife responders all along the coast, not just in the San Juan Islands. At the request of various groups in other nearby communities, IOSA was hired to provide Oiled Wildlife training, which included: * Two wildlife rescue classes (a Basic Care and a Search & Rescue for a Whidbey Island group in 2014); * Two wildlife rescue classes in 2014 and two in 2015 in Port Angeles and Sequim for the Olympic Peninsula and surrounding areas; * A day of four oiled wildlife presentations, which covered initial exam and care, wildlife search and rescue techniques on shore, and a facility overview (in conjunction with Clean Rivers’ wildlife trailer from the Portland area), as part of the annual NW Oil Spill Control Course (U.S. Coast Guard & industry training week in Port Angeles). * Several of IOSA’s boom deployment drills included wildlife surveys and assessment of shoreline habitat, terrain and access points for each segment.

Oiled Wildlife Mobile Response Facility Set-up for Washington

Six-person IOSA crew worked with MSRC’s crew (Marine Spill Response Corporation) and the equipment they store and maintain in order to set up the mobile oiled wildlife response units/facilities within a 24-hour time frame. These drills/trainings were held for one week in Portland and another week in Port Angeles. Since these trainings are held once a year for the past seven years, IOSA is able to send three to four experienced crew members and two new trainees each time in order to build up an experienced team who will know exactly what needs to be done if there is a major spill involving oiled birds in our region.

Emergency Operations Center drills in Washington

IOSA provided crew members for EOC operations for three “Worst Case Discharge” spill response drills in 2014 at the Shell Anacortes Refinery, P66 Ferndale Refinery and for a Shell drill in Seattle. We did the same in 2015, with EOC drills for BP in Tukwila, a BP 2-day drill in Bellingham and a Polar Tankers 2-day drill in Port Angeles.

Presentations for and/or Participation with Other Groups

IOSA gave a presentation on our organization’s evolution since the beginning in 1987 and our current capabilities/functions for a group in the Gulf Islands. These folks are working towards having locally-based spill response for their islands … prompted by a 2015 spill in which the response was substantially delayed, much the same reason a group of people in the San Juan Islands started IOSA nearly 30 years ago! IOSA gave a few presentations in our own islands community in 2014 and 2015 about our role in a large scale response and the services we would provide, with particular focus on heavy oil/diluted bitumen in conjunction with a very good presentation from a NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association) representative on bitumen. We served as a member of a Wildlife Response Task Force conducted by the USCG (U.S. Coast Guard), to develop plans for marine mammal response during a spill, specifically pinnipeds, sea otters and whales.

IOSA was invited to attend and give a presentation for a Washington State Maritime Cooperative conference with over 100 participants in the oil spill response/oil industry. After the presentation about how and why IOSA started and a description of our services and response record, several people (including three previous U.S. Coast Guard staff members who were Captain of the Port during their time) stated that they know of no other similar organizations in the United States or Europe! The unique nature of this beautiful archipelago and the people who call it home makes it possible for an organization like IOSA to work.

One of IOSA’s long-time Lopez responders tends to the boom from his rowboat at the Stuart drill. This is just one example of the many contributions made by individuals who make IOSA the true community-based organization that it is!

Site Safety Assessment (SSA)

The first of IOSA’s primary functions in a large-scale spill is to complete Site Safety Assessment steps within the two- and three-hour time frame for the purpose of evaluating where it is and is not safe when approaching the spill site. Also, within the three-hour time frame we need to provide 3000’ of boom for containment or exclusion in the area of the spill where it is found to be safe enough to begin work. Site Safety Assessment includes gas monitoring, as well as evaluation of many aspects of the surroundings. IOSA’s SSA crew trains and practices a few times a year with air monitoring equipment and procedures. We train with MSRC (Marine Spill Response Corporation) and under their guidance have a good number of trained and certified IOSA responders who can fill this role when called upon. We have done many SSA trainings over the years, with the last two at Shoal Bay on Lopez Island in 2014 and Sucia Island in 2015.

HAZWOPER (Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response)

Since there is a federal regulation which requires spill responders to acquire a minimum of eight hours of HAZWOPER each year in order to be and/or stay certified, IOSA gives at least one HAZWOPER class per year in the San Juan Islands. Our last HAZWOPER training was held on Nov. 22, 2014 during a full day on San Juan Island, with pre-class homework and a post-class exam which gave participants the full required credit of eight hours. IOSA’s next HAZWOPER training is scheduled for Saturday, January 30, 2016, and will once again be held on San Juan Island due to the winter ferry schedule. The class size is, by necessity, limited to a certain number of people so if you are interested, please email us at: iosaoffice@rockisland.com to inquire about the required pre-registration, location, etc.

IOSA responders re-stack containment boom after hauling it up the hill on Stuart Island to its storage area after a tiring but satisfying drill in Prevost Harbor.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

We cannot do all that we do without help from our islands’ community. There are all kinds of ways IOSA receives support, including the many island residents who take the time and energy to get the training required in order to be certified to respond in oil spills. Some of you support IOSA in other ways, such as all the time donated by people to work on equipment maintenance and repair, in-kind donations from both individuals and industry, the annual $10,000 from San Juan County that is specifically to help cover our ever-increasing equipment costs, and the support of organizations such as the San Juan Preservation Trust, who sent out a mailing to all their shoreline members last year to ask if they would be interested in participating in IOSA’s Access, Launch and Viewpoint Network. There are endless people to thank for so many things, including those who have been regular financial contributors for many years. We could not make it without all the support from each of you.

But as our costs and expenses rise for things like insurance, free classroom trainings and on-the-water drills, fuel for response vessels and much more, we need your financial support more than ever. Please consider going to the IOSA website at: www.iosaonline.org, scroll down to the Support IOSA section on the right and click on Donate. Small donations from many are as vital to our organization as are larger amounts. Whatever you can afford, we appreciate tremendously … and promise to use it to continue our work to protect these islands and surrounding waters as best as we can.

Thank you so much, from all of us at IOSA. We hope everyone has a wonderful upcoming year!

IOSA is a 501(c)4 non-profit organization (as are volunteer fire departments). This means that donations made to IOSA are not tax-deductible. Your contributions help us protect the waters of San Juan County and the Salish Sea by helping us prevent, prepare for and respond to oil spills. San Juan County Emergency Services accepts tax deductible contributions to assist IOSA, mail it to the address below and note that your check is to aid IOSA.

If you would like to contribute to IOSA via mail, you can send a check to the below address. Islands' Oil Spill Association (IOSA), PO Box 12, Lopez Island, WA 98261-0012

IOSA does not share our member addresses or information with any other organization.