PEOPLE FOR PUGET SOUND’S ‘ACTION AGENDA’
FEBRUARY 2008

Oil Spill Prevention

Puget Sound is at risk of a major oil spill. Tell the Partnership to include oil spill prevention measures in the 2020 Action Agenda.

Puget Sound and the Northwest Straits are among the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

Fifteen billion gallons of oil move across the waters of Puget Sound in ships every year. Our four huge refineries receive tanker-loads of Alaskan oil hundreds of times every year. And cargo ships of all kinds -- accounting for thousands of trips in Puget Sound each carry enough fuel to devastate Puget Sound should a spill occur.

The WA State Department of Ecology and U.S. Coast Guard say the 2004 Dalco Passage spill was 1,000 gallons. The Exxon Valdez spill was 11 million gallons. A significant portion of Puget Sound's response equipment and personnel were brought into play for only 1,000 gallons. One-fifth of all the booms available in the Sound, and most of the skimmers, were in use. What would happen in the Sound if a more significant spill occurred?

Recent major spills in San Francisco, South Korea, and the Black Sea have resulted in approximately 4.5 million gallons of oil and fuel being dumped into our oceans.  These spills have caused dramatic problems to local ecosystems, fisheries, and local economies.  

Lessons learned from those spills can help us avoid a similar disaster in Washington waters.

Current spill prevention and cleanup measures are inadequate.

We still have a long way to go to strengthen oil spill prevention and cleanup measures. Improvements that must be in the 2020 Action Agenda include:

•    Permanent year-round funding (not just 200 days) for the Neah Bay rescue tug;

•    Maintenance of tug escort requirements for oil tankers;

•    Strengthened spill cleanup plans ("contingency plans") which insure that oil companies and other regulated parties have stockpiled adequate cleanup gear around Puget Sound and on the outer coast; and

•    Strengthened spill prevention programs at the federal level, including enhanced vessel maintenance, crew training, drug testing, and other relevant prevention measures.

Tell the Partnership what you think should be done about preventing oil spills in Puget Sound.