- Date: 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 22, 2020
2020 Valdez Marine Terminal Admin Sump Incident
2020 VMT Admin Sump Incident Fact Sheet 17
- Response crews using skimmers and buster systems continued operations overnight.
- Overnight, a row of boom was secured at the outer edge of containment as a reinforcement for challenging tides and weather.
- The primary boomed area has been reduced by two-thirds in recent days.
- As of 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, approximately 925 barrels (38,850 gallons) of water/oil mix has been collected from recovery activities on the water. Crews are measuring and analyzing the composition of the collected liquids, a process known as metering.
- From those collected volumes metered so far, approximately 12 barrels (511 gallons) of oil has been recovered.
- In addition, less than one barrel (30 gallons) have been recovered from land to date.
- The exact volume of oil spilled remains undetermined.
- A 4:25 p.m. Tuesday overflight over the work area and Port Valdez observed that all sheen was within containment.
- This area has been boomed since April 12 and boom has contained the spill.
- Crews continue excavating and investigating the flow path and primary entry point where oily water is making its way into Port Valdez in the vicinity of the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) small boat harbor.
- Teams have focused the work on two main excavation sites and are exploring and will expand to other dig sites in the days ahead.
- About 30 people are involved in the excavation efforts, including operators, laborers and surveyors in Valdez and Anchorage. More personnel are expected to join the work in the coming days.
- There were no injuries or incidents reported from the overnight shift work.
- TAPS operations are not impacted. The laden oil tanker, Polar Enterprise, departed the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT), this morning (Wednesday), and another tanker is expected to arrive this afternoon. As added layers of safety and observation, all tankers are currently departing the VMT during daylight hours.
- More than 240 people are involved in the response, locally and around the state.
- All are working in accordance with state, local and Alyeska company policies and mandates in order to protect the health of the workforce and the surrounding communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 15 Vessel of Opportunity boats are on scene; 13 Alyeska work boats are also on scene, including landing craft, inflatables, river boats and others.
- More than 26,000 feet of boom is deployed. Response crews continue monitoring and maintaining boom systems.
- 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.
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