Barge Davy Crockett Response: OPERATIONS UPDATE – 30 September 2011

Cleanup of deconstruction debris and contaminants inside the cofferdam resumed September 30 with additional funding expected from the National Pollution Fund Center. Dredging efforts by the 2 dive teams will focus on removing spent underwater cutting rods, metal slag and metal flakes (“scale”) in the areas of the cofferdam where most of the underwater cutting operations and deconstruction efforts took place. This phase of the cleanup effort is expected to last up to 21 days.

Incident duration:	247 days
Injuries	0
Sediment Collected	39 cubic yards
Total Oil water mixture recovered to date	1.6 million gallons*
Total steel removed	4.43 million pounds
Debris & oiled debris removed:	838,434 pounds
Bunker oil recovered:	33,491 gallons
Asbestos removed	4,850 pounds
Samples analyzed to date (e.g. water, oil sediment)	224
Obligated costs to date	$21 million
*This figure represents the amount of oily water mixture that has been recovered directly from the barge Davy Crockett during response operations. An initial unrecovered release of an estimated 70 gallons of oil was documented on January 27, 2011 the day the vessel was discovered to be leaking oil.

Environmental Protection:

All activities involving the destruction and removal of the Davy Crockett were designed to minimize environmental impacts. The impermeable oil and silt barrier inside the metal cofferdam along with sorbent oil collection booms prevented tar balls and oil sheen from discharging into the Columbia River downstream of the work site. Oil containment boom was deployed outside the cofferdam as a preventative measure in case there is a release of oil from the work site. Additional on-water oil recovery resources and oil containment boom were staged nearby as further protection.

Oil, oily water and contaminated water from the vessel’s holds and tanks were collected throughout the cleanup effort and taken off-site for proper disposal. In addition, wash water from cleaning operations and stormwater collected on the Davy Crockett and work barges was put through an on-site water filtration system and then disposed of through the city of Portland’s wastewater treatment system.

Water quality samples upstream, downstream and inside the cofferdam were being collected on a periodic basis in order to evaluate the effectiveness of work activities to minimize water pollution.

Source: Department of Ecology. State of Washington. 30 September 2011

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/incidents/DavyCrockett/DavyCrockett.html