Oil spills are serious business and responses to spills can be hindered by long travel times or access issues when they happen in rural or remote communities.
This week, a handful of federal and state agency representatives traveled to Kotzebue to tackle the problem from the ground up.
"One of the main reasons why we like to make these trips is depending on where the spill is located, it could easily be in any of our jurisdictions or in multiple jurisdictions," said Lt. Todd Bagetis, incident management division chief with the U.S. Coast Guard. "So, we work closely together and we like to exercise that in real-life incidents."
The group checked on connexes that are staged in Kotzebue and hold spill-response equipment like absorbent booms, pads and skimmers; brought new equipment to bolster the stockpile; and met with city and borough representatives to talk about response plans.
"We just want to get the word out to folks that you are the eyes and ears out here," said Bob Whittier, federal on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "What we're looking for is feedback from the local community and tribes. We're not up here all the time. We need to know what your concerns are especially in the area of subsistence use and local knowledge. We need to know where those sensitive areas are. The coastline is constantly changing and we need to know what your concerns are on a constant basis so we can actually incorporate that into our planning process."
Especially outside of the hub communities, agencies rely on village residents to be the first responders. Various groups have held spill response trainings over the last several years, though not in as many places as agencies would like.
"It's very, very difficult to actually get out to the smaller communities and work with them. You have to have enough people that you can bring together to make it financially worthwhile. That includes coming into the hub communities and trying to get folks from the outlying communities to come in," said Tom DeRuyter, state on-scene coordinator for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. "That's been a challenge as long as I've worked for DEC, to get out and get folks trained in outlying villages."
Over the last decade, he said they've been trying to conduct three-day oil spill response trainings where they can. They recently conducted one in Bethel, and others in Nome and Cordova. They are currently planning one in Dillingham next year through the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals.
The group was also interested in meeting with locals to discuss the possibility of creating a land farm for contaminated soil — a common byproduct of a land spill, such as the ones that happened in Kiana and Deering over the last year and a half. A land farm is a place where contaminated soil can be held and processed until it's decontaminated and safe to return to the ground elsewhere.
"We've had a couple of spills in Kotzebue over the past year where we've got piles of contaminated soil," DeRuyter explained. "One of the local entities is trying to work through this process to make it a joint area for the land farm. In the villages, when you don't have a formalized area like that, disposal of contaminated soil becomes very, very expensive. So, we're trying to work with the city to establish an area to do that."
Ideally, he'd like to see a place that will take the soil whenever the need arises, rather than just on a case-by-case basis. After all, long-term planning is a huge aspect of spill mitigation, he said.
All three representatives hoped their trip to Kotzebue would, above all, raise awareness about the need for preparedness when it comes to contamination and spills.
"Based on previous incidents and lessons learned, if there's a spill, don't be afraid to just report it. It starts the communication. If there's a delay in it, it often causes more environmental concerns. A quick notification is half the solution," Bagetis said. "Number two, the state and the Coast Guard have lots of equipment across the state at hub locations. However, that first response typically happens in the local community and folks need to understand that (although) we have this equipment, I consider it a contingency plan. We highly encourage basic training."
You can find out more information on how to report and respond to a spill in your area on the DEC's spill prevention and response webpage.
You can find out more about federal spill response on the EPA's website.
For more information or to talk to one of the representatives about questions or comments from your community, call Lt. Todd Bagetis at 907-428-4205, Bob Whittier at 907-271-3247 or Tom DeRuyter at 907-451-2145.
To report a spill, contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 or the state Division of Spill Prevention and Response at 1-800-478-9300.
This story first appeared in The Arctic Sounder and is republished here with permission.