Legislature(2005 - 2006)SENATE FINANCE 532
02/14/2005 01:30 PM Senate COMMUNITY & REGIONAL AFFAIRS
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| Uscg/state of Alaska Situation Report and Overview M/v Selendang Ayu Grounding | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS STANDING COMMITTEE
February 14, 2005
1:36 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Gary Stevens, Chair
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Thomas Wagoner
Senator Johnny Ellis
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Albert Kookesh
OTHER LEGISLATORS PRESENT
Representative Carl Mosses
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
USCG/State of Alaska Situation Report and overview M/V Selendang
Ayu grounding
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
USCG Admiral Jim Olson
USCG District 17
P.O. Box 25517
Juneau, AK 99802
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave joint overview of M/V Selendang Ayu
grounding
Acting Commissioner Kurt Fredriksson
Department of Environmental Conservation
410 Willoughby
Juneau, AK 99801-1795
POSITION STATEMENT: Gave joint overview of M/V Selendang Ayu
grounding
Rick Steiner
Shipping Safety Partnership
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on grounding of M/V Selendang Ayu
Russ Thorpe
Construction Resources
No address provided
POSITION STATEMENT: Reported difficulty associated with
grounding of M/V Selendang Ayu
Dani Havland
Chill Out Parts and Equipment Supply
No address provided
POSITION STATEMENT: Reported difficulty associated with
grounding of M/V Selendang Ayu
Tom Lokosh, Lead Investigator
Parker Associates
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on grounding of M/V Selendang Ayu
Walter Parker
Parker Associates
Anchorage, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on grounding of M/V Selendang Ayu
ACTION NARRATIVE
^USCG/State of Alaska Situation Report and Overview M/V
Selendang Ayu Grounding
CHAIR GARY STEVENS called the Senate Community and Regional
Affairs Standing Committee meeting to order at 1:36:18 PM
Present were Senators Stedman, Ellis, Wagoner and Chair Gary
Stevens. Representative Carl Moses was also in attendance.
1:36:43 PM
ADMIRAL JIM OLSON, USCG, introduced agency representatives in
the room then advised he would give a short PowerPoint
presentation after which he would respond to questions.
1:37:25 PM
Slide 1: The 738-foot M/V Selendang Ayu sailed from Seattle on
November 28, 2004 loaded with more than 60,000 pounds of
soybeans. She was bound for China following the great circle
route. The ship passed through Unimak Pass into the Bering Sea
on December 6.
Slide 2: At 4:00 am on December 7 the Coast Guard was notified
that the ship had lost engine power and was drifting toward
Unalaska Island. The tug Sydney Foss attempted to tow the
freighter, but the tow cable broke under severe conditions.
Attempts were made to anchor the vessel.
Slide 3: The anchor wasn't holding and by 5:15 pm December 8 the
USCG began evacuation of some crewmembers. At 6:23 pm a USCG
rescue helicopter crashed with ten persons on board. A second
helicopter rescued four persons, but six persons were lost at
sea.
By 7:14 pm December 8 the M/V Selendang Ayu broke in two.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked why the vessel was going north of the
Aleutians.
ADMIRAL OLSON explained that when sailing from any point on the
west coast of the U.S. to China you travel close to the
Aleutians and most ships go through Unimak Pass.
Slides 4-8: The Coast Guard asked the vessel to transfer fuel
and close all valves. Initial estimates of fuel on board
included 443,000 gallons of IFO 380 and 21,000 gallons diesel
fuel.
1:48:20 PM
Slide 9-11: The success of the event was due in large part to
the Coast Guard, the State of Alaska, and party responsible for
the Selendang Ayu working together to create a unified response
under the Incident Command System. A unified command ensures
that the key stakeholders are properly represented and that all
are working toward common goals and objectives.
Slide 12: Lists the plan and permit requirements for the
individual unified command. The plans include an incident action
plan, wildlife, lightering, waste management, site safety,
decontamination, salvage, and winter operations. The permits
required include archaeological, decanting, tideland use,
wildlife capture and treatment, fish habitat, waste handling,
Native corporation land use.
Slide 13: Artist's rendition of the vessel showing the seven
cargo holds, three double-bottom fuel tanks and aft wing tanks.
They recovered about 144,000 gallons of fuel and diesel oil and
believe that nearly 300,000 gallons of IFO fuel oil was lost.
1:52:37 PM
KURT FREDRIKSSON, acting commissioner, Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC), made the point that weather is
very much a factor in this type of incident. Weather was a cause
of the grounding and the real-time action taken after the
grounding was very weather dependent. The safety of personnel
was the number one priority.
Slide 14: Assessing the impacts is done by Shoreline Cleanup
Assessment (SCAT) teams. They conduct over-flights and assess
wildlife impacts and affected commercial fisheries.
Slide 15: Shows the shoreline with oil and soybeans on the
beaches.
Slide 16: Indicates wildlife impacts. The International Bird
Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) opened a treatment center, but
recovery was difficult. 29 birds were recovered and at last
count over 1,000 had died.
Slide 17: Addresses the fisheries impacted. The Makushin Bay
fishery was closed because of the State of Alaska zero tolerance
policy regarding crab and fish exposure to oil. The state worked
with fishermen, processors, local interest groups, and the
community to determine how to manage the fishery to ensure
product safety.
1:57:20 PM
Slide 18: Shows the Bering Sea district and the commercial
fisheries affected.
Slide 19: Indicates there is still much to do in addition to
figuring out how to open the fishery safely. December 23, 2004
the bow section sank and 176,000 gallons of IFO 380 in number 1
tank became inaccessible.
Slide 20: Indicates the shoreline-oiling map.
Slides 21-23: Shows cleanup and protection efforts. Protective
boom was placed on sensitive streams, but beach cleanup was
hampered by poor weather.
Slide 24: Shows large vessel offshore oil recovery efforts that
proved to be rather unproductive. The "Current Buster" was taken
out of service but some skimmers are still working.
Slide 25: Lightering efforts with the use of heavy-lift
helicopters were quite successful and recovered between 25 and
30 percent of the oil onboard.
2:00:50 PM
ADMIRAL OLSON described lightering procedures under very tough
conditions.
2:06:12 PM
MR. FREDRIKSSON described winter shutdown in slide 26.
2:06:58 PM
Slides 27-29: Dispersants weren't used, but were available.
Water quality monitoring was very successful. Tow net trawls
were used to identify where the oil was concentrated and to
advise the fishermen to transit elsewhere.
2:09:24 PM
Slide 30-31: Fishermen were taught how to monitor for oil using
pom-poms. Seafood inspections were conducted and the fishery was
successful.
2:11:12 PM
Slide 32: The fishermen and state did everything possible to
ensure uncontaminated seafood.
Slide 33: Daily public meetings kept locals, tribal groups and
Native corporations informed. The web site was updated
frequently to keep the public and the media informed.
2:12:58 PM
Slide 34: Salvage operations were described.
Slide 35: Wreck assessments were conducted remotely.
2:13:56 PM
Slide 36: Winter operations plans include: surveillance flights,
water quality monitoring, oil tracking, and HAZWOPER training
for residents.
Slide 37: Local Area Map
Slide 38: Spring/Summer Operations Plan includes SCAT surveys,
cultural resource protection, waste management, fisheries water
quality sampling and termination endpoints.
2:15:18 PM
Slide 39: Major accomplishments: the lightering is complete,
gross contamination is removed, the Opilio crab fishery is
complete and zero tolerance was achieved.
2:17:33 PM
For additional information visit the Unified Command Website:
http://www.state.ak.us/dec/spar/perp
2:17:55 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS said he was pleased to hear that the unified
command structure appears to have worked very well.
MR. FREDRIKSSON complimented the unified command.
ADMIRAL OLSON said the website was very successful and received
1 million hits the first week. He also complemented everyone
that was on scene.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted that Mr. Ron Philemenoff, representing
the Saint Paul village corporation, TDX, was listening with
interest because it has major landholdings in and around the
spill site.
2:25:30 PM
RICK STEINER, Shipping Safety Partnership representative,
informed the committee he is also a professor and conservation
specialist with the University of Alaska Marine Advisory
Program. He commended the committee for holding the overview
because of the cultural, subsistence and natural resources that
have been impacted. Certainly there are success stories in the
response to this disaster, but standing back and looking at the
entire scope of incident "the glass was about 95 percent empty
and maybe 5 percent full," he said.
The risk in using this maritime transportation route is well
documented and has been pointed out to the State of Alaska and
the U.S. Coast Guard for decades. If anything was learned from
the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill it is that any response is largely
ineffective. In this disaster six human lives were lost, tens of
thousands of birds and marine mammals died, a U.S. Coast Guard
helicopter was lost, and the vessel and its cargo are gone. The
financial loss will likely fall between $100 and $200 million
and it was a disaster that was waiting to happen.
The Shipping Safety Partnership that has been formed among non-
governmental organizations is focused on preventing future
disasters. The goal is to improve safety of this maritime
transit area and they applaud the Governor for asking that a
risk assessment be done. Also sorely needed are a rescue tug and
a tracking system for the 4,000-6,000 vessels transiting this
area every year, Mr. Steiner said.
2:31:11 PM
In closing he asked the Legislature to make an emergency
appropriation for an interim protection system for the Aleutians
for the time it takes to conduct a risk assessment. He suggested
$5 million be given to DEC out of the Oil and Hazardous
Substance Release Prevention and Response Fund so an adequate
open ocean rescue tug could be on station immediately in the
Unimak Pass area. "This is a state responsibility as well as a
Coast Guard responsibility."
2:33:09 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked Mr. Steiner for his letter with
specific recommendations and asked him to explain his suggestion
regarding routing further from shore since vessels still need to
go through the Aleutian chain.
MR. STEINER acknowledged there is only so much the state and
Coast Guard can ask of vessels in terms of route, but through
voluntary agreement with the National Maritime Organization
areas to be avoided (ATBA) or particularly sensitive sea areas
(PSSA) have begun to be established. The farther vessels transit
from sensitive habitat, the better. The voluntary agreements are
very encouraging.
2:36:13 PM
SENATOR WAGONER asked where the information about loss to sea
life came from.
MR. STEINER replied bird carcass recovery of 1,600 comes from
the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Unified Command website.
The Exxon Valdez ratio of recovered carcasses to the number of
lost and uncounted birds was about ten to one. Fish and Wildlife
is extrapolating from the number of dead to determine what the
range of total mortality has been. Using the ratio, the acute
mortality to date is 16,000 and that doesn't count the chronic
mortality that will occur for years to come.
2:39:28 PM
RUSS THORPE, Construction Resources, testified for himself and
Dani Havland with Chill Out Parts and Equipment Supply, to
report that they have been having difficulty getting paid for
services and supplies rendered.
2:39:48 PM
MR. FREDRIKSSON responded the payer would be the responsible
party.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS agreed that everyone should be paid for work
done. He assured Mr. Thorpe the Admiral said the Unified Command
would take this matter up and he encouraged him to contact his
office if further attention was warranted.
2:45:20 PM
TOM LOKOSH said he was the lead investigator for Parker
Associates that was contracted by the Alaska Oceans Program to
investigate the grounding of the Selendang Ayu and provide
recommendations in the future. He faxed his testimony to Chair
Gary Steven's office and a copy is in the committee file.
2:53:57 PM
WALTER PARKER, Parker Associates, said shipping in the North
Pacific is changing rapidly and will require a lot of work. He
cautioned that the Republic of China is very new in
international maritime trade and might present a great
challenge.
2:56:06 PM
CHAIR GARY STEVENS noted there was no other further testimony.
He thanked Mr. Fredriksson and Admiral Olson for participating
and asked both to contact him to discuss the suggestions
regarding vessel tracking, a rescue tug, and interim protection.
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Chair Gary Stevens adjourned the meeting at 2:57:06 PM.
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