The second-largest pollution fine in state history was announced Tuesday for the oil spill that occurred at Point Wells south of Edmonds in December 2003.
Foss Maritime of Seattle was fined $577,000 by the state for negligence in the spill, which drifted across Puget Sound and fouled beaches and a marsh in Kitsap County.
The Point Wells spill occurred shortly after midnight Dec. 30, 2003, as Foss was filling a tank barge with oil. ChevronTexaco operates a petroleum storage facility at Point Wells, just north of the King County line.
The tank overflowed, and nearly 4,700 gallons of fuel oil spilled into the Sound. A small amount washed up at Point Wells, but most drifted to the Suquamish Indian Reservation near Indianola. A tribal subsistence shellfish bed at the beach was affected.
“We’re relieved the (state Department of Ecology) has recognized the spill as being as serious as we believe it to be,” said Leonard Forsman, Suquamish tribal chairman.
Foss spent more than $4.5 million on the cleanup, which took nearly four months. Only small vestiges of oil remain at the beaches and marsh, and the shellfish bed has recovered, Forsman said.
“We’re grateful that Foss stepped forward and invested as much as they did into the cleanup,” he said. “They didn’t shirk their duty. We’re happy about that.”
Regarding the fine, Bruce Reed, a Foss vice president, said state officials “did what they thought was right, within the context of their policies and rules that are very thorough and specific.”
The fine was steep because of the amount of time it took to clean up the spill and the state’s finding that it was caused by negligence, said Larry Altose, a spokesman for the Department of Ecology.
A barge operator overestimated the size of the ship’s oil tank, thinking it would take longer to fill than it did, Altose said. Also, two separate alarms that were supposed to sound when the tank was close to being filled were improperly installed and failed to activate, he added.
No fine was levied against ChevronTexaco, although two boats the company tried to press into action to contain the spill failed to start,delaying the placement of booms for two hours, Altose said. State law did not provide cause to find the company at fault, he added.
After the spill, the Legislature ordered the Ecology Department to study ways to prevent and contain spills. A report is expected next year, department spokeswoman Sheryl Hutchison said.
Foss’ clean record in the past, the fact that it acted quickly on the cleanup and that it was cooperative during the state’s investigation kept the fine from being even larger, Altose said.
Foss has made improvements, such as holding review meetings with tanker operators and doing unannounced audits on tank barges, Reed said.
Foss has 30 days to appeal the fine.
The money from the fine will go into a state account used for environmental cleanup projects. The Suquamish are asking for some of that money, but have been given no guarantee by the state, Forsman said.
The largest fine on record in the state was $7.8 million levied against Olympic Pipe Line Co. and the same amount against Shell Oil for the June 1999 Bellingham fuel spill and fire that killed a teenager and two younger boys.
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