Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
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Oil spill experts advance discussion on Puget Sound protections during forum
Inslee unveils oil spill prevention and response legislation
12 December 2005
Experts from Washington state and Alaska discussed ways to improve oil-spill prevention and maintain limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound during a forum in Seattle.
Local official U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who sits on a key commerce panel and helped keep restrictions on oil tankers in the sound this fall, announced during his keynote address that he'll file legislation in the House aimed at preventing spills during the oil-transfer process and decreasing spill response time.
"We have reason to be proud of our success, but cannot become complacent," said Inslee about foiling an attempt to open up Puget Sound to unlimited tanker traffic. "Together we also need to fight for new environmental protections."
His proposal would help prevent spills, like one that occurred in his district almost three years ago when a barge was refueling at the Point Wells facility in Snohomish County, Washington. Containment booms were delayed by 30 minutes after that 4,800-gallon spill because vessels dispatched to the scene during the cold December night wouldn't start immediately.
The two-hour forum came amid a steady stream of oil spills in recent years and increasing threats to existing protections for Puget Sound. Over the past three years, as many high-profile oil spills have been documented in the sound. In addition to Point Wells, 100 gallons of diesel fuel leaked out of a derelict tug boat that sank near Port Gamble just this fall. And in October 2004, an estimated 1,000 gallons of heavy-grade fuel oil spread overnight from a tanker in the Dalco Passage near Tacoma before being reported and contained.
Additionally, federal limits on oil-tanker traffic in Puget Sound, enacted almost 30 years ago by then U.S. Sen. Warren G. Magnuson, have come under attack. This fall, Inslee successfully led an effort to keep broad language out of a House energy bill that would have ended the protections for the sound. Shortly after the measure was killed in the House, however, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Ala.) filed legislation in the Senate to remove Magnuson's provision from the books. It still is pending in that chamber.
Other forum participants included Fred Felleman from Ocean Advocates, Kathy Fletcher from People For Puget Sound and Mike Cooper, chair of the Washington State Oil Spill Citizens Advisory Council, among others.