Division of Spill Prevention and Response Prevention Preparedness and Response

• Date: 6 p.m. Saturday, April 18, 2020

2020 Valdez Marine Terminal Admin Sump Incident

2020 VMT Admin Sump Incident Fact Sheet 11

• As of 6 a.m. Saturday, approximately 720 barrels (30,240 gallons) of water/oil mix was recovered. Crews have begun measuring and analyzing the composition of the recovered liquids, a process known as metering.
  • Crews have metered approximately half of those recovered emulsified liquids;
  • From those recovered volumes metered so far, approximately 8 barrels (315 gallons) of oil was recovered.
  • Metering work continues and the exact volume of oil spilled remains undetermined.
• Two oiled birds were found deceased today, bringing the total deceased to four.
• A Saturday afternoon overflight of the work area and Port Valdez did not find any sheen outside of the boomed response areas.
• Crews verified the primary entry point where oily water is making its way into Port Valdez in the vicinity of the VMT small boat harbor. This is a rocky area near the low tide line, which indicates a flow path below ground.
  • Crews are beginning to excavate uphill from this area to create a potential collection point and prevent more oily water from entering the water.
  • Skimmers continue making progress and overflights confirm that the impacted area is decreasing.
  • This area has been boomed since Sunday and the boom has contained the spill almost entirely since then.
• Excavation is also taking place at other areas on Terminal, including around the source of the spill, a sump located about a quarter-mile uphill from the VMT small boat harbor which has been isolated and secured since Monday.

"Finding the flow path will be challenging," said Mike Day, Incident Commander and Alyeska representative in the Unified Command. "It requires significant and precise excavation. Digging is routine work on the VMT and for Alyeska, and we know it takes time and diligence that ensures that we do it right."

• More than 230 people are involved in the response, locally and around the state.
• More than 26,000 feet of boom has been deployed. 15 Vessel of Opportunity boats are on scene; 13 Alyeska work boats are on scene, including landing craft, inflatables, river boats and others.
• TAPS operations have not been impacted. The laden oil tanker, the Alaskan Legend, departed early Saturday afternoon. The next oil tanker isn’t scheduled to arrive for several days. All tankers are being docked and loaded at VMT’s Berth 5, the farthest operational berth from the spill area. And as an added layer of safety, all tankers are departing during daylight hours.
• For the safety of response personnel and the public, a Temporary Flight Restriction area remains in place, set at 5,000 feet elevation and one mile in radius over the VMT working area.

For information and updates on the response, check back to this ADEC site.