PREVENTING THE BIG OIL SPILL: Lovel Pratt explains need for emergency response towing vessel in Haro Strait
Thursday, December 26, 2024
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How long would it take for an emergency response towing vessel (ERTV) to rush to the aid of a large vessel in distress passing by the San Juans?
What is the potential scope of a large-scale oil spill in the Haro Strait or Boundary Pass?
Lovel Pratt, Marine Protection & Policy Director with Friends of the San Juans, answers these and other questions in an interview this morning.
At 2:00 minutes into the interview, Jeff asks Lovel to describe an important letter Governor Jay Inslee just sent to the Canadian government, regarding oil spill prevention in the San Juans.
(3:40) Lovel describes how an ERTV could help prevent a major oil spill. She said, “When [tankers] are full of oil cargo, they do have tug escorts. If they are over 40,000 deadweight tons. Otherwise, most of the vessel traffic transiting Haro Street and Boundary Pass that are going to and from ports in Canada, they don’t have tug escorts and they’re at risk of, accidents and oil spills.”
(6:20) She said there is an ERTV based in Neah Bay, in Clallam County, Washington. But it’s too far from the Haro Strait to be of immediate rescue in the Haro Strait.
(8:40) Jeff asks Lovel to describe the expected consequences of a worst-case oil spill in the Haro Strait or Boundary Pass.
(9:15) She said, “If you look at what would be termed a ‘national oil spill response,’ it would be recovering about 15 to 20 percent of the spilled oil. A major oil spill would be incredibly damaging to the entire region. It’s just it’s hard to fathom it. And it’s impactful over a long period of time. It’s…I can’t even describe…”
Lovel added, “One thing I will also say is that oil spill prevention is incredibly critical for protecting the endangered southern resident killer whales. It’s well known that these whales travel in groups, and if they’re in the vicinity of a major oil spill, that could cause their extinction. There were two groups of killer whales up in Alaska during the Exxon Valdez spill. And one of those groups is essentially extinct. There are a few members left living, but there’s been no new calves born. And once those few members die, that group will be extinct. It took decades for the other group to begin to show signs of recovery.”
(12:15) Jeff asks about increased tanker traffic through the Haro Strait as a result of the new pipeline.
Lovel talked of unexpected new tanker traffic into part of Washington State.
(14:00) Lovel speaks of the newer kind of oil sands that coming out of the new pipeline.
She said, “This is an increase in tanker traffic that’s importing this really concerning product: diluted bitumen. So bitumen is the oil sands that are mined in Canada. It’s basically oily sand. And to get it to flow through a pipeline and be able to be loaded onto a ship, they mix it with diluent. This very high and volatile light oil product that — they mix the two together. If there is a spill, there is concern. There’s really still no clear information about how a spill will behave in the marine environment. And there’s concern that the two products that separate — the bitumen is very heavy. It would sink. The diluent is light; it could be volatile.”
(16:50) Even without an oil spill, Lovel describes the challenges to marine life, including whales, from the increased volume of tanker traffic around the San Juans.
(18:20) Jeff says SanJuans.Today intends to cover the storyline of oil spill risk in the San Juans “consistently and persistently.”
(19:55) Jeff made a pitch for donations to (and volunteerism with) the Friends of the San Juans. He said, “It’s a good time also to point out that, if you don’t support the Friends of the San Juans, it may be a good time to think about supporting the Friends of the San Juans. They have a bunch of smart people thinking about this stuff all day. Not just thinking about it, but taking action and proposing action.
COMMENTARY/OPINION: This should not be seen as a U.S. vs. Canada or Washington State vs. British Columbia story. The damage to life and property on Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and British Columbia mainland would be similar to the losses in the San Juans, the Olympic Peninsula, the Washington Coast, and across the Salish Sea. Hopefully, governments on both sides are equally motivated to minimize the risk of a catastrophic oil spill in our local waters.
