An oil spill at the Chevron Asphalt Plant at Point Wells, between Woodway and Shoreline, early Tuesday morning, Dec. 30 resulted in almost 6,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil in the Puget Sound, according to U.S. Coast Guard officials.
The Coast Guard was alerted to the spill at 12:15 a.m., after receiving a report that oil spilled into the Puget Sound while being transferred to a barge at the Chevron facility.
An estimated 142 barrels, each containing 42 gallons of oil, leaked into the Puget Sound, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Keith Alholm. The Coast Guard responded and 18 skimmers and 80 people arrived on-site, Alholm said.
Five thousand feet of boom, an oil absorbent, were deployed around the barge and other nearby areas. The boom corrals the oil so it can be captured later, Alholm said. By 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard had recovered almost one-fifth of the oil.
“We have recovered 28 barrels of the product,” Alholm said.
State Rep. Mike Cooper, D-Edmonds, chair of the state House of Representatives legislative Fisheries, Ecology and Parks Committee, toured the site the morning of Dec. 30. He was accompanied by state Sen. Paull Shin, D-Mukilteo, and Rep. Maralyn Chase, D-Edmonds.
Cooper said the response was impressive. He said in the early 1990s new procedures were put in place for responding to such incidents and that he has seen the drills performed before.
“I think what I saw today was a result of the hard work that’s gone on with the state and federal government and private organizations” on coordinating cleanup efforts, Cooper said. “The federal and state governments and private organizations worked very closely together.”
Cooper said tides were taking the oil south to Bainbridge Island and Seattle’s Carkeek Park, and he saw small amounts wash up on Richmond Beach. A shift in tides could take it toward Edmonds, he said.
He was “amazed at how so few gallons of oil can spread,” Cooper said.
The cause of the spill is under investigation by the Coast Guard and the state Ecology Department, Alholm said, and no estimates are available about when the spill will be entirely cleaned up.
Three companies have been hired to assist with clean-up, including Foss Environmental, Marine Spill Response and Clean Sound.
Edmonds Enterprise editor Bill Sheets contributed to this story.
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