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Sawmill Bay (Chenega)
The principal task facing the Cordova fleet was protection of the handful of
salmon hatcheries on the west side of the sound, especially the Armin F.
Koernig hatchery at Sawmill Bay, Evans Island, and the town of Chenega. Based
on weather, currents, and information provided by the fisherman themselves, DEC
estimated that the main body of the floating oil was three days away from
Sawmill Bay. There was one DEC oil spill response veteran and an expert on
contract, and they began stringing defenses with the help of Chenega residents,
using some boom already at the hatchery.
The original plan called for deploying three strings of boom 12,000 - 15,000
feet each, in layers from the entrance of the bay back towards the shore and
hatchery. The group needed heavy duty boom, but all they would have or the
first few days were various types of relatively light-duty containment and
absorbent boom.
A second cluster of Cordova District Fisherman United (CDFU) seine vessels
arrived at Sawmill Bay on March 29-30 and began to help string deflection boom.
Flying weather was poor, which delayed the delivery of boom by helicopter.
However, by midday on Thursday, March 30, Alaska Air National Guard helicopters
began dropping absorbent and containment boom into the bay, the seiners and
skiff operators picking it up and stockpiling or stringing it. While the first
flights allowed the Sawmill Bay responders to begin building defensive lines,
the material they had was not well suited to the task.
"The water, moving 7-8 knots or faster through here, is faster that the
rated performance of the boom," DEC's field supervisor wrote on March 31.
"So far we are experimenting with multiple anchoring systems and radical
boom angles. Continuing to use lighter duty boom for additional levels of
protection between main containment boom."
The Cordova fisherman and DEC used various creative configurations of absorbent
boom, pom-poms, and containment boom to build defensive lines whose strength
was the sum of many improvised parts. Onshore, crews rigged cleaning and repair
lines for the many hundreds of feet of damaged and soiled boom. On-the-water
atrols improvised repairs and connections to the lines with whatever they could
scrounge.
Meanwhile, back in Valdez, CDFU leaders and DEC officials realized more
logistical and vessel support would be needed. Several people suggested that
the state send one of its ferries. Ina 2 a.m. call to Alaska Department of
Transportation commissioner Mark Hickey, DEC commissioner Kelso asked if he
could "borrow" one of the states ferries. Hickey's immediate reply
was "Which One?" Hickey arranged to divert the M/V Bartlett to
Sawmill Bay; the ferry, which would be used primarily for repairs, supplies,
housing and storage, arrived on April 2. The Bartlett had fresh workers, fresh
water, and supplies, including two dozen aluminum skiffs to augment the
16-skiff CDFU workboat fleet.
The Bartlett arrived the same day as the oil. Until April 2, most of the oil
that had arrived had come from the tendrils or patches spun off the main body
of the slick. That Sunday, a big tidal surge brought large slugs of oil and
mousse to the brink of the defensive lines. Some oil got through, but most of
it was deflected or contained by the booms.
Over the next few days, more vessels and equipment arrived. A larger state
ferry, the M/V Aurora, replaced the Bartlett; several large work and holing
barges arrived, as well as the first of the "Supersucker" vacuum
trucks from the North Slope oilfields. The vacuum trucks had been hauled by
road from the slope to Valdez, then mounted on barges. The vacuum barges
quickly became critical to the skimming and transfer operations at Sawmill Bay,
sucking oil and mousse from containment boom corrals and transferring it to
barges.
The "Battle of Sawmill Bay" was a successful partnership of private
and government efforts. It was the focus of the efforts to protect the three
west side hatcheries and Eshamy Lagoon, site of one of the areas most important
wild stock (red) salmon fisheries. These areas are the foundation of the PWS
commercial fisheries, and therefore the foundation of the local economy.
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