Friends of the San Juans asks you to endorse immediate extension of mandatory tug escort for laden oil tankers entering the now-unprotected first 70 miles of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Extending Tug Escort Fills an Obvious Gap in Marine Protection. Tug escort is now required east of Dungeness Spit by both Washington state law (1975) and Federal law (Oil Pollution Act of 1990). But no tugs are required west of there.
"If a two-tug escort is important protection for Puget Sound and Prince William Sound, why isn’t it a good idea for the Strait of Juan de Fuca?"
-- Editorial, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 14, 1998
"Tug escorts and a rescue tug have been required in Prince William Sound since the devastating Exxon Valdez spill; those measures reduce the risk of another spill there by 75 percent. Is the state of Washington supposed to wait until it has its own disaster before tugs are required?"
-- Editorial, Tacoma News Tribune, June 22, 1998
Tug Escort Works! Escort tugs have played a proven role in avoiding tanker accidents and spills in these waters. For example, when the tanker Kenai lost power off Port Angeles on July 11, 1996, a state report concluded: "Fortunately, an escort tug was near by when the vessel lost power." 1
"The escort vessels are to assist a ship that becomes disabled from a loss of propulsion or steering control; the immediate presence of the escort vessels will reduce its chances of colliding or running aground."
-- U.S. Coast Guard, 59 Federal Register 65741, December 21, 1994
Extending Tug Escort = Prudent Protection. Here is a prudent step we can take now to reduce the risk of tanker accidents and a potentially disastrous oil spill beginning in the outer Straits and spreading well into Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.
-- Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Jack Metcalf, letter to Vice President Gore, June 10, 1998"… the Coast Guard-sponsored Volpe Study of maritime hazards … conclude[d] that groundings and collisions pose the greatest threat and that additional spill protection is needed in the north Puget Sound area."
"While oil spills may be longshots, and something most of us don’t spend much time thinking about, it is certainly a case in which it is better to be safe than sorry. Despite what may be a small chance of disaster, we should do more to protect our waterways."
-- Editorial, Port Angeles Daily News, May 8, 1998
An Interim Measure Needed Now. Friends of the San Juans joins every major Washington state environmental group in advocating extended tug escort as an urgently needed interim measure of protection until potentially more cost-effective measures can be tested and are in-place.
"The state of Washington welcomes the opportunity to work closely with the Administration over the next year or two to evaluate the effectiveness of the International Tug of Opportunity System [ITOS] and to establish more comprehensive and effective long-term improvements in our system for oil spill protection.
However, I must convey my concern about the need for improved safety measures while these reviews are underway."
-- Gov. Gary Locke, letter to Vice President Gore, July 6, 1998
Authority to Extend Tug Escort Exists in Federal Law. Authority to extend tug escort to "other waters" was included in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Moreover, the Port and Waterway Safety Act [33 USC 1221-1236] reasserts and broadens this authority. The Coast Guard long ago concluded it has ample authority to require tug escort in "other waters" such as those in the outer Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- The Shared Marine Waters of British Columbia and Washington,"A large spill in the shared waters [of Washington and British Columbia] is highly likely within 20 years. If such a spill occurs, there will be extensive losses of plants and wildlife, commercial and recreational uses, and property values."
-
British Columbia / Washington Marine Science Panel, August 1994
- Oil Spills in Washington State: A Historical Analysis,"The state must guard against complacency and losing focus on spill prevention. *** The outer coast, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the vicinity surrounding the state’s major refineries are the areas at greatest risk of major spills."
-
"If a laden tanker loses steerage coming in the
now-unprotected 70 mile stretch from the "J" buoy to Port Angeles, nearly any
combination of tides and winds would undoubtedly drive the oil spill into the inland
waters of the Puget Sound causing unimaginable destruction to the marine ecosystem."
-- Rep. Jack Metcalf, letter to Secretary of Transportation Slater,
June 1, 1998
Why We in the San Juan Islands are Concerned The San Juans lie in the path of the most common type of spill 3that releases the greatest volume 4 of the most persistent and destructive type of oil 5 in the area the State of Washington identifies as at the greatest risk 6 for just such a tanker accident. |
"Ultimately, the question is who bears the risk during an interim evaluation period – the environment and citizens of the Puget Sound area or the oil industry? Given the magnitude of the consequences associated with a major spill in the straits or Puget Sound, the answer should be clear."
What About Canadian Tanker Traffic? Laden oil tankers leave Vancouver, passing closely around the north and west of the San Juan Islands to exit the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Though these are generally smaller capacity tankers and there are fewer transits a year than of tankers going to U.S. refineries, Canada has yet to mandate any tug escort. And our Coast Guard has refused to enforce the U.S. tug escort requirement where these tankers are, in fact, in U.S. waters. Extending and enforcing full escort protection in U.S. waters will be our most powerful argument to help move the Canadian government to greater action.
What About Non-Tanker Shipping? Large quantities of fuel are carried in the ever-larger dry cargo vessels crowding the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Ultimately, we need the strongest possible international system for vessel safety throughout these waters. Better radar, rescue tugs stationed at Neah Bay and in the San Juans, and many other steps are under study by the Coast Guard and others.
Meanwhile, the gap in protection for tanker traffic in the outer Strait cries out. If the tug escort mandate is extended for tankers in the Strait, there will be many more tugs available in those waters far more of the time to assist any vessel in distress.