# Presentation: 177800

## Office of Response and Restoration Our role in the Delaware River and Alaska oil spills

## Office of Response and Restoration - Protecting and restoring coastal resources at oil spills and chemical release sites for over 30 years

## What we do

*Provide scientific response for oil and chemical spills*
*Protect, assess, and restore coastal resources at hazardous waste and oil spill sites*
*Share expertise to address critical local and regional problems*

## Provide response support

*Coordinate on-scene scientific activities and provide scientific support at incidents*
*Work with local communities on contingency plans for oil and other hazardous substance spills, homeland security, WMD, and natural disasters*
*Develop tools and provide training for spill preparedness, response and planning*
*Improve knowledge and tools for decision making*

## Address oil and hazardous waste sites

*Conduct natural resource damage assessments to restore coastal resource injuries*
*Implement restoration projects to address injuries*
*Resolve natural resource damage liability cooperatively*
*Recover funds to restore resources*
*Provide support for Brownfield sites, priority watersheds, and port development*
*Provide training for partners on rapid assessment, damage assessment, and restoration*

## Program results

*Provide scientific support at over 100 events/year*
*Protect sensitive areas more quickly*
*Recommend cleanups that minimize cost and maximize environmental protection*
*Assess and restore the public’s natural resources—working at ~295 oil spill and hazardous waste sites*
*Cooperate with industry for cost-effective and time-efficient restoration (e.g. Pepco, DuPont, ChevronTexaco)*
*Helped generate over $300 million for restoration*

## T/V Athos I Delaware River Spill

*Ed Levine, Office of Response & Restoration*

## Incident - November 26, 2004

*Struck submerged object during docking at Citgo facility*
*Created two holes in port and center tanks*
*Initial estimate ~30,000 gallons released*
*Total of 264,000 gallons released*
*Venezuelan heavy crude*
*Very dense and viscous – cold honey*

## Collision site & other ORR efforts

*Location of Athos I site and other areas where NOAA is in various stages of remediation, cleanup, and restoration*

## Submerged and pooled oil

*Greatest concerns—continued fouling, migration, and remobilization*
*Impact created two trenches of pooled oil with ~ 4000 gallons *
*Recovery through dredging, sorbents, and pumping*

## Resources at risk

*Birds – migratory, peregrine falcons, bald eagles*
*Fish – juveniles and larvae, short nosed sturgeon*
*Shellfish – blue crab (larvae), oysters and clams*
*Wildlife – turtles, mink, muskrats, otters, and others*
*Lost use – fishing, boating, hunting, power plant, and others*
*Marshes – grasses, endangered plants, and wild rice*

## NOAA on-scene support

*Assisting with locating, quantifying, and recovering submerged oil*
*Providing science for reopening Salem Nuclear Power Plant and the port of Philadelphia*
*Conducting natural resource damage assessment*
*Modeling trajectory of oil*
*Identifying resources at risk*
*Mapping sensitive habitats*
*Managing information – ResponseLink*
*Assisting navigational response team – channel surveys, rescue, sonar*

## Trustees

*Federal*
*NOAA (lead)*
*U.S. FWS*
*State of Delaware*
*State of New Jersey*
*Commonwealth of Pennsylvania*

## Next steps

*Continuing to assist cleanup *
*Conducting natural resource damage assessment*
*2-4 year effort*
*Work cooperatively with responsible party and cotrustees*
*Collect data and conduct injury studies*
*Identify full extent of resource and service injuries*
*Develop assessment and restoration plan*
*Implement restoration projects to address injuries*

## M/V Selendang Ayu Alaska Oil Spill

*Rob Ricker, Office of Response & Restoration*

## M/V Selendang Ayu

*738-foot Malaysian freighter *
*Bulk carrier of soybeans *
*Washington to China*

**Unalaska Island**

## M/V Selendang Ayu

**December 23  **Bow section sunk

**December 8  **Aground

**December 9  **Broke in two

## Release and salvage

*Amount of fuel originally aboard *
*424,000 gallons Intermediate Fuel Oil - IFO 380 *
*21,000 gallons marine diesel*
*Amount known spilled*
*40,000 gallons IFO 380 *
*Amount lightered*
*79,500 gallons IFO 380/water and marine diesel, combined*
*Total amount unaccounted for*
*325,500 gallons*
***All numbers are estimates as of ***
***25 January 2005***

## Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams

*Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams*

## Trustees

*Federal*
*NOAA*
*USFWS (lead)*
*State of Alaska*
*Department of Environmental Conservation*
*Department of Fish and Game*
*Department of Natural Resources*
*Department of Law*
*Also coordinating with Qawalangin and TDX tribes*

## Resources at risk

*Shoreline – 124 miles surveyed of 340 miles for survey segments; 43 miles observed with oil; *
*Birds – 970 dead oiled birds observed*
*Fish and shellfish – e.g.,Tanner crab, halibut, salmon*
*Marine mammals – 18 oiled, 5 dead otters*

## Commercial fisheries

*State of Alaska: “zero tolerance” for oil contamination of seafood*
*All Commercial Fisheries closed for Makushin and Skan Bays*
*Rigid inspections ongoing for catch from other areas** – **no contamination found*

## Soy Beans on Spray Cape

## Aerial and ground surveys

*Oil (surface and submerged)*
*Coastal and pelagic seabirds*
*Marine mammals*
*Stream assessments*
*Shoreline habitat*

## Heavily oiled streams. Storms drove oil up stream channels, above the normal tidal range.  NOAA is surveying salmon streams for the presence of oil.

## Ongoing Response & NRDA activities

## Questions?

*Office of Response and Restoration—David Kennedy*
*Athos I Delaware River oil spill—Ed Levine *
*Selendang Ayu Alaska oil spill—Rob Ricker*