Is our state prepared for a major oil spill?

As the world watches images of oil-covered birds and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, Washingtonians may be wondering what would happen if a major oil spill happened off our own coast or in Puget Sound.

In today’s Ecology & Parks Committee meeting, members were given an oil spill prevention update by Dale Jensen, who manages the Department of Ecology’s Oil Spill Prevention and Response Program, and David Dicks, who heads the Puget Sound Partnership.

The update was mostly reassuring. Washington differs from the Gulf Coast states in that we have no offshore drilling, we don’t allow any supertankers into Puget Sound, and there is no oil pipeline traveling under Puget Sound. However, these were all ideas that were floated at one time or another, but thankfully state leaders at the time didn’t end up acting on them. So that already greatly decreases the likelihood of a spill the magnitude of the Gulf spill happening here.< In addition, our state has oil spill preparedness standards that exceed the federal standards.In fact, companies bring people from all over the world to train with our Oil Spill Response and Prevention program. We also have a strong program at the state level to handle oil spill readiness and response. Our state Department of Ecology has the authority to step above the federal standards; by contrast, the Gulf states rely more on industry response and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Some recent steps we’ve taken to minimize the risk of a catastrophic oil spill include passing legislation in the 2009 session (sponsored in the House by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege) that permanently stationed a rescue vessel at Neah Bay – funded by industry.

In fact, on June 30 of this year, at midnight, the state-funded rescue tug will be replaced by the industry-funded one, saving taxpayers millions of dollars a year while keeping our response readiness at 24/7, 365 days a year. There is also a five-cent per barrel tax on all oil that comes into the state, with four cents going into the Oil Spill Prevention Account, and one cent going into the Oil Spill Response Account.

However, it was noted today that the clean-up costs of a catastrophic oil spill would likely be greater here than down in the Gulf. The reason is that the Gulf leak is far from shore, so there was time to prepare some response. But a spill of that size in Puget Sound would quickly hit shorelines in less time than would be needed to put together the necessary response measures. This reality underscores the need to keep our oil spill prevention and response efforts robust, and ensures that future legislative sessions will likely continue to work on ways to protect our waterways.