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1989-08-21 Regular MeetingKodiak Emergency Services Council August 21, 1989 Kodiak, Alaska EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL LARRY NICHOLSON (ADF&G): Kitoi still cranking out fish --5.4 million. Could be another million still to be harvested. Normally by this date, we would have harvested 8O% of normal run. We aren't seeing fish in salt water; hopefully they are late. Possibility for Coho fishery is slim. Test fishing vessels reduced to three --one covering Chignik and two left in Kodiak waters. Prior to the 19th, all vessels reported seeing light smatterings of mousse in water. Helicopter crews are still finding fresh hits. Still a little bit coming. Our plans are to hold test fishing around oil to these three boats. BOB BRODIE (CITY OF KODIAK MAYOR): Can you make me a report stating specifics for a meeting I have coming up. I will be leaving Wednesday afternoon. Any other agency that wants to give me a report is welcome. JOHN HOPKINS (DEC): Two environmental engineers on barge. We understand there are some on-going problems, but I don't know details on incinerator. The beach surveys are going along. Down to three helicopters. Crews are going back and checking for potential Type B. Coming back with 10% being Type B. Earlier they were moderate hits, but now are classed as very light. We are still seeing a lot of beach changes going on. We are continuing to take note of where we do find oil. We are looking to see a lot of data from DNR, Exxon, and SCAT on base maps to put our information on. Maybe is still a priority, and we are keeping track with that. Ray Morris is looking at operations end and becoming acquainted with Kodiak to collate it back up to Valdez. He is the assistant state coordinator. He has a lot of answers and is the man to talk to. Have our information together for Coast Guard. The ISCC group, as far as the Coast Guard, is a group that pulls together all that information and because of that, our agencies share data back and forth. BRODIE: Is incinerator working? HOPKINS: The incinerator is broken. I am not sure what is going on. PAUL BURKE (USF&W): Forwarded letter in draft to Exxon describing the number of dead birds --just under 19,000. We did a log graft. We are still pulling in dead birds. Birds in the south end of Afognak are being re -oiled. I have not received results back on bird analysis. Otters were not oiled on outside. We assume it's just a standard number of reasons they could have died. For that reason, we have withdrawn requests to re -staff otter boat. Brought in two live eagles, one of which died. One was sent to Seward. The one that died had pox. The bird came out of the South Uganik Arm. Kodiak Emergency Services Council - August 21, 1989 Page 1 03973 BRODIE: Could I have body count total from you on Wednesday? JEROME SELBY (KODIAK ISLAND BOROUGH MAYOR): And counts in the morning? BURKE: Okay. The exact count is 18,567. JERRY HAMMOND (NATIONAL PARKS): Majority of time is spent supporting cleanup. We would still like to get copies of all of the A Type work orders in the files at DEC. The only thing in the DEC files I know about are copies of the SCAT reports. COMMANDER DENNIS MAGUIRE (USCG): I can get you a list. HAMMOND: It would also help us to see what the work order said. MAGUIRE: That would be a major effort. HAMMOND: Could we send someone out? MAGUIRE: It's an Exxon machine. HAMMOND: I am not the only one asking, and it will help us. MAGUIRE: If you want to send someone down, I can make the files available. HAMMOND: Okay. Other than that, we are working with Commander on d -mobile. We are working with Exxon to make sure nothing is dropping through the cracks. BRODIE: What kind of cleanup effort in your domain? HAMMOND: I failed to bring a ship plan with me. DISCUSSION on two teams in Wide Bay working. JIM WADE (EXXON) passed out copies of plan: This is the plan presented to Admiral Ciangalini for his approval. Reply is expected by the 22nd (tomorrow). Jerome called and asked if we had definitive plan for Kodiak, and we don't have that for Kodiak, but we are working on it. We already lost some of our major berthing vessels, and we are supplementing them with Prince William Sound vessels. We hope we will be able to complete everything the ISCC has given us for Type A. SELBY: What are you looking at; will you have an office here? WADE: We will have an operations person here until November. Our operation group will be based in Anchorage. A community representative will be here throughout the winter. SELBY: How about SCAT team doing assessments throughout the winter? WADE: There is a plan to do that. It is SCAT's responsibility. I don't think it will be the same group or whether a contractor will be doing it. I understand NOAA has been given a grant throughout the winter. Also, some Kodiak Emergency Services Council - August 21, 1989 Page 2 03974 village programs and possibly a program for controlling collecting of tar balls. The equipment will be moving to Anchorage to be reconditioned, repaired, and restocked. Support staff will be in Anchorage. SELBY: Do you know when you will have the Kodiak plan done? WADE: We are working on it. I can't give you a date. I would think sometime within a week. HAMMOND: Are you going to put a helicopter on the Arctic Salvor? WADE: A helicopter has been put back on, but I don't know how long it will be there. We are looking at safety aspect. It's there now --left at eight this morning. HAMMOND: Chignik group continuing working? WADE: Yes, until we get area demobilized. HAMMOND: Do you have plans for a date? We have personnel there that are not always available. WADE: I will let you know that. HOPKINS: On the answer you gave us on the work order status, I could give you an answer. I think we need to get together after the meeting. WADE: We don't think there are quite as many as data base is showing. We think only 17 miles may not be cleaned. SELBY: How are you handling re -oiling? WADE: Some areas we have gone back and re -cleaned. Some didn't show oil before, and we have gone in and re -cleaned. One example is the road system and subsistence fisheries. Have done some re -cleaning on national parks and setnet sites. SELBY: Once you treated it, you take that milage. Say, once you go back over, you have said it's re -treated. MAGUIRE: We consider that and have gone back over data. (Explained.) DISCUSSION. WADE: Now there is a separate column that says it has been re -treated. SELBY: Are assessments stating hit of oil that is been re -oil. WADE: Some of that is coming through agencies, and they are reporting to us. One SCAT team assesses, we haven't sent them back in on re-oilings. SELBY: How are you coming with chart? Kodiak Emergency Services Council - August 21, 1989 P e 3 (3975 WADE: We are probably ahead of schedule. HOPKINS and WADE to talk after meeting. MAGUIRE: Our segment inspection program is moving along. On incinerator, we established a 100 yard safety zone. Someone is painting fluorescent orange marks on rocks at Uyak, K-9, and Raspberry Straits. HAMMOND: We have asked, and nobody fessing up. DISCUSSION. Mileage in handout DISCUSSED. Exxon says less than 50 miles cleaned when other agencies don't agree. Need to know were we exactly are. DEC will continue to work order Type A and B. WADE: A load demobilization has been recommended for Type B. We have said all along we would do group cleanup of beaches. That is what we feel we have done. This number reflects miles that have been treated and what remains to be treated. It isn't totally accurate. HOPKINS: Still a lot of Type A. HAMMOND: Exxon today identified areas they felt were through and turned areas over to Coast Guard. We have also identified areas for cleanup that haven't been touched yet. BURKE: This graft is telling someone something. The definitives are representing. WADE: If SCAT recommended no cleanup, it was because of archeological restraint: Some were largely guess work, it was all SCAT was able to do. HOPKINS: We are getting to the point we need to see timely data. A lot of assessment is based on an assessment that is only a few days old. There are places where we had moderate oil early in. WADE: We recognize there are areas, from a Type A standpoint, not totally clean. 350 have been demobilized. That is what the Coast Guard has looked at and demobilized. MAGUIRE: When re -oiling happens, it opens up a new case. HOPKINS: We ask SCAT to check out data. SELBY: The 792 is a misleading number as far as I show. HOPKINS: Needs defining. BURKE: Needs a more definite picture. After DISCUSSION, all agreed. Kodiak Emergency Services Council - August 21, 1989 Page 4 03976 SELBY: This graft gives a misreading picture of what happens. It needs to be clearly spelled out. I can't see that we can't get into some of those areas to clean up. It needs to be put down so general public can understand it. They don't have the luxury of you explaining it as we do. WADE: I will pass that along. SELBY questioned a statement on page 6 and how it's worded. BRODIE: How many SCAT teams on now? WADE: Two. BRODIE: I asked Peavy last week, and he said none removed. Now, in a week, you have gone from four to two. WADE: The SCAT team is staying here. If a beach is re -oiled, a SCAT team will decide. BRODIE: Exxon outside board of directors have asked me and Devans to meet with them on Thursday in Valdez. Admiral Ciangalini called with the lawyers' go ahead for seiners to use geotextile. WADE to get information for meeting in the morning. SELBY: DEC gave us the green light to use geotextile bags. BRODIE: Ciangalini said to be sure and tell SCAT teams to be dispatched to evaluate so that it is an accurate evaluation before leaving. Reports of oiling need to be verified and documented. HOPKINS: Oil between Chief Point and Hooks Cove. HAMMOND: I am uncomfortable with Jerome's statement about going ahead with geotextile. That makes me uncomfortable with that as an operation that has not gone through the committee properly. What happens if someone comes up with their own idea? MAGUIRE: It is circumventing system. HOPKINS: If you said for the record that DEC is working with the Borough. I would like record to show I question if that is proper way to pursue Type B cleanup. BURKE: I would like that to be on the ISCC agenda. DISCUSSION. Kodiak Emergency Services Council - August 21, 1989 Page 5 0397;