Division of Spill Prevention and Response Prevention Preparedness and Response

• Date: 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, 2020

2020 Valdez Marine Terminal Admin Sump Incident

2020 VMT Admin Sump Incident Fact Sheet 3

• The spill amount remains undetermined; as of 3 p.m. Wednesday, approximately 623 barrels (26,166 gallons) of water/oil mix was recovered.
• The source of the spill has been identified as a sump located uphill from the VMT small boat harbor. There is no continuing discharge of oil from this source. The cause of the spill is under investigation.
• There are more than 180 people involved in the response; they are working in the field, from the command post, and remotely.
• Precipitation, mostly rain, has been steady in the response area on Wednesday and is expected to continue through Thursday before waning Friday. Rain impacts operations in many ways, most importantly potentially affecting safety. Workers were reminded to be being aware of slick conditions caused by water and ice.
• Rain can also increase the surface area of a spill or sheen, so crews are deploying additional boom to ensure the spill remains contained, and personnel are monitoring boom and its connection points to land.
• 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.
• On-water operations summary:
  • More than 4,000 feet of boom has been deployed
  • 14 Vessel of Opportunity boats on scene
  • 13 Alyeska work boats on scene, including landing craft, inflatables, river boats and others
• On-land operations summary:
  • Engineers, inspectors and operations technicians are working to identify the spill’s flow route.
  • Teams are excavating the area around the sump to help identify spill boundaries and potential flow route.
  • Crews continue to manually collect contaminated snow and ice from the area around the sump.
• An oil tanker,The California, was loaded with Alaska North Slope Crude without incident and departed around 9 a.m. today (Wednesday). Another tanker, The Polar Discovery, arrived later this morning and is being loaded at VMT’s Berth 5, the farthest operational berth from the spill area.
• 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.
  • The 2 p.m. helicopter overflight was abbreviated due to foggy conditions but was able to confirm the spill remains contained within the boom. No other overflights will take place until conditions clear.