Gallon JP-5 Spill at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads - Supervisor of ...

Winter 1999/2000Spill Prevention and ResponsePlan for Thule Air Base,GreenlandThrough SUPSALV’s ESSM base in Anchorage,Alaska, the Navy has gained agreat deal of experience in oil spill responsein Arctic conditions. It is becauseof this expertise that SUPSALV isdeveloping a Spill Prevention and ResponsePlan (SPRP) for Thule Air Base,Greenland. The plan is being developedthrough Defense Energy Support Center(DESC) for Air Force Space Command inan effort to enhance Thule’s oil spill readiness.Also included in the SPRP will bean in-situ burn annex to address spills onice.A team of engineers visited Thule AirBase, Greenland, from August 6 to 13 fora site assessment in advance of the planpreparation. There are several scenariosat Thule in which a spill is likely to occur.The M/V Gus W. Darnell, a ship operatedby Military Sealift Command,typically transfers 10 million gallons ofJP-8 each July after the ice has broken upfor the summer. Ship collisions with icebergs,transfer errors at the pier, and tankor pipeline failures during this operationcould lead to a worst-case discharge.Pipeline as it crosses the North River.Another threat for a fuel spill is thermalexpansion of the large fuel tanks (2.3 milliongallons capacity) and pipelines whenthe sun first appears above the horizonin the spring. Finally, the threat of a spillalso exists at the numerous smaller fueltanks throughout the base. These includetanks at the filling station as well asthose located next to Crescent Lake, thefreshwater source for Thule.In addition to a SPRP to enhance oilspill readiness, renovations of the tanksand pipelines at Thule are also ongoing.The original system, which was constructedin 1951, will be replaced byDecember 2000. Among the improvementsare retiring unused tanks, replacingmany of the tanks with the doublewalledvariety, and adding liners and sumppumps to all the tank berms.Through the SPRP, as well as the fuelsystem renovations, Thule Air Base willbe more prepared than ever for a fuel spill.3Continued from page 1that is typically used for ship fueling operations.This boom provided adequateprotection but was insufficient for theweather conditions.SUPSALV assisted by deploying 4,000feet of USS 42 boom, mated with 1,000feet of 26″ boom on one end and 550 feetof 26″ boom on the other end. Twentyfivefeet of shoreseal boom was deployedat both shore connection points of the5,500-foot containment boom assembly.The boom configuration was designed tocontain the residual JP-5 within an area500 feet from the mangrove, thereby protectingthe main portion of RooseveltRoads harbor.SUPSALV representative Will Healy(environmental programs manager) arrivedon-scene and assisted in the establishmentof the Incident Command System(ICS). SUPSALV representativeDenise Brown (environmental engineer)assisted in operations and logistics support.SUPSALV representatives remainedon-scene for two weeks, assisting in ICSoperations and Natural Resource DamageAssessment (NRDA).At the end of the two-week period,operations were fully turned over to NavalStation Roosevelt Roads. WhileSUPSALV representatives departed,equipment remained on scene for use atthe discretion of Naval Station personnel.