Oil Sheen Spotted Near Cayou Quay Marina

— from Janet Alderton —

At around 1:22 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16, my contractor, Greg Smith, noticed the rainbow sheen of an oil spill in Deer Harbor. He immediately told me about the spill. The spill was west of the Deer Harbor Marina, but a south wind and tides later shifted the oil towards Cayou Quay Marina.

I called Lovel Pratt, the Marine Protection Program Director of the Friends of the San Juans. Lovel gave me the phone number of the Department of Emergency Management (800-258-5990, select #1 to report a spill). I called them at 1:27 p.m. They took my report.

The photo above was taken from my deck that is about 200 feet above the water. By this time the tides and a wind from the south had moved the oil sheen towards Cayou Quay Marina.

Lovel had told me to also call the National Response Center (800-424-8802, press #1 to report a spill). I called them at 1:34 p.m. Thirdly, Lovel had said to call our San Juan County Sheriff (360-378-4151). I talked to Nick, the dispatcher, at 1:41 p.m. Nick sent a fire response person to check out the situation. At 1:45 p.m. I received a call from our State Department of Ecology (423-941-7725). At 2:11 PM I received a call from Alexa Chapman of the U.S. Coast Guard (425-941-7725).

I also talked to Michael Durland at the Deer Harbor Boatworks. He said that, about a month ago, a green boat had been releasing oil from its bilge, but that he did maintenance to correct the problem. All the spill authorities, and Michael Durland, with his eyes on the water, judged that the spilled amount was too small to recover using oil booms. Even small oil spills are bad for the marine life, so please take care to maintain your boat.Spill prevention is by far the best.

Second photo was taken from Cayou Quay’s southern-most float about two hours after Greg spotted the spill. Toxic beauty.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, our County had a wonderful group of volunteers, the Islands Oil Spill Association. But they did not receive enough support from our county or from the refining and shipping companies. Ken Carrasco, a board member of the Friends of the San Juans, and Brendan Cowan of our county’s Department of Emergency Management are leading an effort to revive the Islands Oil Spill Association. We truly need IOSA to respond to the smaller local oil spills.

Thank-you, Greg Smith; thank-you, Lovel Pratt; thank-you, dispatcher Nick and the responder who came to have a look; thank-you, Michael Durland; thank-you, Alexa Chapman of the U.S. Coast Guard; many thanks to the Department of Emergency Management, to the National Response Center, and to our State Department of Ecology.