| March 24, 1989 - Day One |
|
0030 |
Commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO)
and Captain of the Port (COTP), Valdez, Commander (CDR) Steve McCall, was
notified of the grounding of the T/V Exxon Valdez by telephone call to his home
from the radio watchstander at the MSO's Vessel Traffic Center. As USCG COTP,
CDR McCall was the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) for an oil spill in
Prince William Sound (PWS) under the national Clean Water Act and federal,
state, and port oil spill contingence plans. |
|
0030 |
The USCG MSO radio watchstander telephoned the Alyeska Marine Terminal (AMT)
and notified the AMT's on-duty marine operations supervisor of the incident.
This set in motion Alyeska's state-approved oil spill contingency plan. As
Exxon Shipping Company, the spiller, had no plan of its own, Alyeska was in
charge of the response. |
|
0030 |
Tugboat Stalwart was dispatched to the Exxon Valdez. |
|
0042 |
Port of Valdez was closed to tanker traffic. |
|
0050 |
Alyeska notified Dan Lawn, the Alaska Department of Environmental
Conservation's (ADEC) oil spill-response official in Valdez, of the tanker
grounding. Lawn was the initial state official on-scene and assumed the role of
State On-Scene Coordinator (SOSC) until his supervisor, Bill Lamoreaux,
regional supervisor of ADEC's South-central Regional Office, Anchorage, arrived
in Valdez. |
|
0100 |
A pilot boat was made available to transport ADEC and USCG personnel to the
scene. |
|
0115 |
The Alyeska Valdez Emergency Center was opened by Alyeska's James Wilson. |
|
0118 |
Lawn notified USCG CDR McCall he would be accompanying the pilot boat to the
Exxon Valdez. |
|
0120 |
Lawn called Bill Lamoreaux and requested all area ADEC officials to report to
Valdez. |
|
0125 |
Frank Iarossi, president of the Exxon Shipping Company was notified of the
spill. |
|
0238 |
Alyeska orally requested permission to use dispersants from USCG CDR McCall. |
|
0245 |
Tugboat Stalwart arrived at the Exxon Valdez to stabilize the ship and rescue
the crew if necessary. |
|
0249 |
USCG CDR McCall requested assistance from the USCG Pacific Area Pollution
Strike Team, San Francisco. |
|
0310 |
Alyeska placed all available aircraft at the Valdez Airport on charter. |
|
0338 |
USCG officials and ADEC's Lawn boarded the Exxon Valdez. |
|
0414 |
The inbound T/V Exxon Baton Rouge was contacted and directed to proceed to the
grounding site to begin lightering operations. ETA: 1100 |
|
0450 |
The International Bird Rescue Center in California was contacted and told to
assemble a bird cleaning crew. |
|
0457 |
The AVEC requested that the trans-Alaska pipeline be slowed down. |
|
0519 |
The AVEC began leasing small boats for assistance with the response. |
|
0530 |
Lawn was informed Alyeska that the contingency barge would be on its way soon.
However he was not told it had been offloaded for repairs several months
earlier. |
|
0530 |
10.1 million gallons of oil (242,000 barrels) had been discharged from the
Exxon Valdez. |
|
0600 |
Alyeska's O'Donnell flew over the tanker to examine the extent of the spill. A
person on the tanker informed him, in the aircraft, that boom was not a
priority. Normally boom is quickly used to surround a tanker to control oil
spillage. |
|
0620 |
Jack Lamb, acting president of the Cordova District Fisherman United (CDFU) was
notified of the spill. |
|
0630 |
CDR McCall advised the AVEC to fax him a formal request for the use of
dispersants. |
|
0630 |
CDFU members were assembling. With their local knowledge and equipment they
could help in a variety of ways. They contacted the USCG and the AVEC offering
their 20 boats and crews for assistance. Neither accepted the offer! |
|
0645 |
Lawn telephoned Alyeska for an update and to inquire as to why the barge was
not yet on scene. He was told it was on the way. |
|
0727 |
The oil slick was approximately 100 feet wide by 4 to 5 miles long. |
|
0842 |
The USCG received a fax requesting the use of dispersants. |
|
0950 |
The contingency barge left the AMT. ETA: 1300 |
|
0954 |
The AVEC was notified the Valdez animal shelter was prepared for bird cleanup. |
|
1000 |
A urine sample was taken from Hazelwood, Cousins and Kagan. Lab tests found a
.1% alcohol content in the Hazelwood sample and none in the others. |
|
1130 |
The Exxon Valdez was determined to be un-seaworthy and that if it came off the
reef it would roll over within 30 to 90 seconds. |
|
1200 |
A request for the use of in-situ burning was given to the USCG. |
|
1200 |
The slick was three miles wide and five miles long. |
|
1200 |
The CDFU again informed Alyeska that 75 boats, equipment and people were ready
to respond, some from a town just 15 minutes away from the Exxon Valdez. They
were told they would be called back. They never got the call! |
|
1200 |
The Exxon Baton Rouge was along side the Exxon Valdez for lightering
operations. |
|
1230 |
The contingency barge arrived at the spill site. The contingency plan required
the barge be on scene within five hours... It had taken thirteen! It arrived
with equipment to cleanup a spill of approximately 10,000 gallons. The spill
was already at 11,000,000 gallons. |
|
1510 |
A trial dispersants use was approved |
|
1730 |
Bill Lamoreaux arrived in Valdez and assumed the role of SOSC. |
|
1737 |
Frank Iarossi arrived at the Valdez airport from Huston, Texas. |
|
1800 |
A dispersants test was conducted and results were unfavorable. |
|
1800 |
Only two skimmers were in use out of the seven skimmers and thousands of feet
of boom that had arrived at the scene. |
|
1800 - 1930 |
A press conference was held at the Valdez Civic Center. |
|
185X |
An in-situ burn permit was issued by ADEC for this evening. |
|
1900 - 2030 |
Exxon conducted a press conference |
|
2010 |
After hours of maneuvering the Exxon Baton Rouge was tied to the Exxon Valdez.
Lightering preparations began immediately. |
|
2200 |
Three tug boats were dispatched from the spill area to deflect icebergs from
the Exxon vessels. |
|
2215 |
The first lightering hose was connected. |
|
2359 |
Estimated amount of oil spilled: 250,000 barrels (10.5 million gallons).
Alyeska had deployed eight vessels, one barge, and 20,000 feet of boom. |
| March 25, 1989 - Day Two |
|
0612 |
The first dispersants spraying plane arrived in Anchorage from Phoenix with
equipment and two crews so that one would be fresh and ready to start upon
arrival at Valdez. |
|
0736 |
Lightering began between the Exxon Valdez and Baton Rouge. |
|
0824 |
Oil was again seen leaking from the starboard side of the Exxon Valdez.
Lightering was immediately stopped. It was determined that the grounding
damaged the internal piping system on the Vessel. |
|
0833 |
The trans-Alaska Pipeline was slowed to 768,000 barrels per day. At this rate
the AMT had storage capacity for seven days worth of oil. |
|
0945 - 1110 |
During a meeting with several agencies Exxon announced it was assuming
financial responsibility for the spill as well as control of the cleanup
efforts. |
|
1200 |
Exxon officially relieved Alyeska Pipeline Service Company of cleanup
responsibility. |
|
1330 |
The FAA in Anchorage was mobilizing a seven-person air traffic control team to
set up a temporary control tower at the Valdez Airport. (Uncontrolled Valdez
Airport had seen 440 flights the previous day. Its historical average was 20
flights a day) |
|
1600 |
A dispersant test conducted at this time was deemed inconclusive. Those
witnessing the test were unable to tell if any change in the oil slick
occurred. |
|
1658 |
Another dispersant test was conducted. Several witnesses declared it a success
but CDR McCall was unable to get quality video of the test and was thus unable
to approve further use. His concern was that he would need to show others that
the dispersants were working, to back a decision for the use of dispersants. |
|
1930 |
Mechanical cleanup crews reported that 1,200 barrels of oil had been recovered. |
|
2000 |
Another dispersant test was conducted with "cautiously optimistic"
results. |
|
2015 |
First bird rescue operation was conducted by Exxon. |
|
2045 |
A burn test was conducted with 100 square feet of tarry residue remaining. An
estimated 15,000 gallons of oil were consumed. This was the only time in-situ
burning was allowed. |
|
2243 |
Lightering operations were resumed using two USCG submersible pumps. |
|
2359 |
Visual observation placed the leading edge of the oil slick 16.5 miles
southwest of Bligh Reef. |
| March 26, 1989 - Day Three |
|
1100 |
A dispersants test was conducted and deemed unsatisfactory. |
|
1130 |
Another dispersant test was conducted and unsatisfactory. Calm weather on
Friday (25th) and Saturday (26th) prevented sufficient mixing of dispersants
and oil, thus resulting in poor test results. |
|
1330 |
2,000 barrels of oil had been recovered. |
|
1430 |
A very successful dispersant test was conducted. At this time higher seas were
entering the Sound. |
|
1500 |
The Alaska National Guard was activated to assist with cleanup efforts. |
|
1500 |
NTSB investigators arrived at the Exxon Valdez to inspect the vessel |
|
1600 |
A dispersant test was conducted with satisfactory results. |
|
1700 - 1845 |
Dispersants were approved for use in Zone One. |
|
1800 |
3,004 barrels of oil had been recovered. |
|
1830 |
Alaska Governor Cowper declared a state of emergency. |
|
2100 |
Approved burning operations were canceled due to increased wind velocity. |
| March 27, 1989 - Day Four |
|
0600 |
Winds overnight had raged up to 73 miles per hour. Planes were unable to fly.
The Exxon Valdez had move on the reef to a new heading of 220 degrees, 12
degrees difference, due to winds. |
|
1015 |
First surveillance plane took off from Valdez airport. |
|
1330 |
Exxon was made aware that beach cleanup crews would be needed. Several islands
eastern edges had been heavily oiled. |
|
2359 |
Oil was observed 37 miles southwest of Bligh Reef. The slick had moved 20.5
miles in one day. |
|
2359 |
2,275 barrels of oil had been recovered. |
| March 28, 1989 - Day Five |
|
0000 - 0300 |
During a meeting with cleanup Brass and Fisherman it was admitted that the
slick would not be stopped. Priority was changed to protecting sensitive areas. |
|
0600 |
Preparations to reopen the AMT were begun. |
|
1120 |
A request by Exxon for in-situ burning, made an hour earlier, was approved. |
|
1330 |
Burning operations were unsuccessful due to high water content in the oil. |
|
1400 |
The AMT was reopened to vessel traffic. Tankers were required to have two tug
escorts and avoid the Exxon Valdez and any cleanup operations. |
|
2100 |
The Exxon Baytown received orders to report to the spill site and prepare to
lighter oil from the Exxon Valdez one the Baton Rouge was at capacity
|
|
2359 |
The southwest edge of the spill now reached 52 miles from Bligh Reef. |
|
2359 |
Five skimmers were operating and had recovered a total of 3,000 barrels, 725
for this day. |
| March 29, 1989 - Day Six |
|
0800 |
The first beach cleanup crew left Valdez for Knight Island. |
|
1200 |
Sawmill Bay protection became a priority. |
|
1600 |
The first lawsuits were filed in Alaska Superior court by two fisherman. |
|
1728 |
Exxon San Francisco was dispatched to the Exxon Valdez from the AMT to
participate in lightering. |
|
2042 |
Exxon Baton Rouge now at capacity. |
|
2359 |
5-6,000 barrels had been recovered. Seven skimmers were now operational. |
| March 30, 1989 - Day Seven |
|
0300 |
Joseph Hazelwood was fired from the Exxon Shipping Company. It was determined
that he was too drunk to operate the tanker at the time a urine sample was
taken, nine hours after the spill. |
|
1300 |
Total expenditures for spill cleanup were $868,904. |
|
1518 |
Lightering to the Exxon San Francisco started. |
|
2359 |
Three birds and two sea otters had been sent to cleaning stations. |
|
2359 |
The leading edge of the slick was now 90 miles from Bligh Reef. |
| March 31, 1989 - Day Eight |
|
1700 |
Governor Cowper accepted an offer from the Soviet Union to send a 425-foot,
11,400 ton skimmer to PWS. |
|
1700 |
Ten otters had been received by the cleaning facility. |
|
2359 |
Thirteen skimmers were now operational and a total of 8,200 barrels of oil had
been recovered. |
| April 1, 1989 - Day Nine |
|
1045 |
Suffolk County, N.Y., police failed to find Hazelwood at home in Huntington,
Long Island, when attempting to serve an Alaska arrest warrant. (Two more
attempts were also unsuccessful.) |
|
2100 |
The Alaska State Ferry Bartlett, was anchored in Valdez where equipment was
being loaded. The vessel was to serve as a floating operations base in Sawmill
Bay. |
|
2359 |
59 birds and 32 otters had been received at the cleaning facility. |
|
2359 |
Total spill expenditures now at $1,932,244. |
| April 2, 1989 - Day Ten |
|
1300 |
Exxon San Francisco was filled to capacity. |
|
1900 |
The Exxon Baytown was alongside the Exxon Valdez to continue lightering
operations. |
|
2200 |
Lightering to Exxon Baytown started. |
|
2359 |
150 birds had been received at the cleaning facility, no additional otters had
been received. |
|
2359 |
Twelve skimmers were operational and had recovered a cumulative total of 10,000
barrels of oil. |