Near Miss: Ranker Reports on Rescue Tug’s Operations to Prevent Fuel Spill

By Lin McNulty|2010-07-29T21:03:39-07:00July 29th, 2010|1 Comment

By Senator Kevin Ranker

Last night a tug and barge carrying 8 million gallons of diesel and jet fuel lost propulsion near the San Juan Islands. The Neah Bay Rescue Tug came all the way from the eastern entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca to rescue the tug and barge. We were very fortunate to have calm seas and the time that allowed the rescue tug to get there and the fuel barge tug to regain power.

This event underscores the importance of the Neah Bay Tug. It also however raises a question: Is one tug positioned at the eastern entrance (almost 100 miles away from the san juan islands) sufficient?

Read the DOE Incident Statement here ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/incidents/Commitment

About the Author: Lin McNulty

Lin has been working on a novel for over 20 years. Working/owning theOrcasonian ensures that she won't ever finish the novel. That may be intentional.