Barge Recovery Spills Oil at Lummi Island Quarry

Meredith Moench is president of the Lummi Island Conservancy and has been a near neighbor of the Lummi Island quarry for eight years. For updates go to: http://www.lummiislandquarry.com.

On March 15, 2012, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued a press release announcing that an oil spill had been discovered at the Lummi Island quarry. This spill occurred during the attempted removal of a sunken barge located on the tidelands next to one of the quarry’s two barge loading facilities. The announcement was made the same day that a spill response team from Ecology visited the quarry site located on the eastern shoreline of Lummi Island. This action took place six days after a North Sound Baykeeper team member reported an oil sheen at the site. The sheen was photographed flowing into Hale Passage outside of the containment area on March 8.

It would appear that this oil spill was not reported immediately by either the contracted salvage company or quarry personnel. This would be in violation of state and federal law. In response to this and follow-up citizen complaints, the state biologist overseeing the company’s Fish and Wildlife in-water project permit visited the site on Monday, March 12. He subsequently assured these concerned citizens that the project was being safely conducted within permit requirements, that additional containment precautions had been arranged for, and that no oil sheen was observed at the site.

However, by Thursday, March 15 when Ecology’s spill response team arrived at the site, a press release issued that same day stated that the barge had released an unknown amount of oil, leaving a thin coating of oil on the water and nearby shore, affecting “approximately 200 feet of shoreline and covering about 600 square feet of water.” It was also discovered that the salvage contractor, Ballard Diving and Salvage, was in the process of dismantling a second completely submerged barge they had discovered. This second barge was not included in the permit project descriptions which described only one sunken barge to be removed.

These vessels were former ships’ hulls converted to use as barges. According to salvage company personnel, both hulls were saturated with hardened heavy oil. Presumably ignorant of this fact, Lummi Rock LLC stated in their permit applications that there were no hazardous materials contained in the barge. The first barge has now been completely removed and the steel barged off-island for recycling. According to the salvage company, this vessel had been a World War II British warship before its conversion.

Salvage workers were unable to complete removal of the second barge by the extended deadline of March 30. The presence of juvenile salmon and the Chinook migration require a “fish window” beginning March 15 during which time in-water work potentially hazardous to fish must stop. Hale Passage is a significant salmon habitat area and Chinook are listed as a threatened species according to the Endangered Species Act. This means three-quarters of the cut-up oil-contaminated second barge will remain underwater and cannot be disturbed until at least June 15. Potential water quality violations are being investigated by the Washington Department of Ecology. For additional detail, go to the Department of Ecology website at www.ecy.wa.gov.

This incident is yet another example of the failure of mitigation. Despite efforts by local, state and federal agencies to mitigate environmental damage caused by this surface mining operation, it continues to occur. The quarry owner/operator can claim innocence of wrong-doing due to unforeseen circumstances, ignorance of the law, acts of nature, etc. but the bottom-line is that there is cumulative environmental damage which cannot be easily restored if restoration is even possible. This mining operation continues on a designated conservancy shoreline of statewide significance. This shoreline is designated as such because it meets certain criteria according to the Whatcom County Shoreline Management Program and state law. These criteria include:

• Development activities and uses are buffered from and do not substantially degrade ecological processes and functions;

• Outstanding scenic quality or other aesthetic qualities of high value to the region are present and would likely be diminished unless development is strictly controlled;

• Critical areas or other sensitive natural or cultural features are present that require more than normal restrictions on development and use;

• The potential to influence ecological processes in a manner that will produce ecosystem-wide benefits exists upon restoration.

You might well ask why a surface mining operation of industrial scale is operating on such a shoreline. Unbelievable as it may seem, surface mining is allowed on a conservancy shoreline as a conditional use. This special permission for use may be granted subject to various conditions which include mitigation requirements. If you look at the history of this quarry, it becomes apparent that oversight has been minimal, with the first county operating permit not even being granted until 2007. Prior to that, they apparently operated under a lease from the state Department of Natural Resources.

The environmental review (SEPA) required for the 2007 operating permit was cursory at best, based on an incomplete and vague environmental checklist, with no professional biological assessment provided, and no dive surveys. A final SEPA determination of “mitigated non-significance” was issued. Since then, on-going sediment releases into the marine waters have been cited by the Department of Ecology. Barges 180-feet-long and other miscellaneous vessels are left parked for months and years in the eelgrass bed habitat areas. Tugs come in on a regular basis, maneuvering barges in and out of position at the two loading facilities, operating in a large swath of sensitive marine habitat with unknown impacts due to their propeller wash.

Two previous oil spills observed off the shoreline at the quarry have been reported, on February 27, 2012, and on January 7, 2011. No action was taken on either of these reports of oil sheens, photographed and reported by citizens. The exact source of the oil could not be determined and the quarry owner denied responsibility. Forage fish, crab, and salmon inhabit the area as well as other sensitive and local marine priority species. Hale Passage is an important fishery resource for the state of Washington and the Lummi Nation.