Photo By Chief Petty Officer Shawn Eggert | Response crews finished construction of a temporary 30-foot by 100-foot...... read more read more
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VALDEZ, Alaska — The Unified Command composed of the Coast Guard, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, City of Valdez, and Gallagher Marine Systems, LLC, finalized plans Sunday to off-load all 28 containers from the BBC Arizona for decontamination shoreside.
Port Valdez stevedores removed the remaining Alaska-bound cargo from the ship over the weekend.
Response crews finished construction of a temporary 30-foot by 100-foot decontamination and containment site on the Valdez Container Terminal pier Sunday. With the site complete, the next phase of response operations includes wrapping each container in plastic and lifting them off the ship and into the decontamination area. Response personnel will be standing by with a vacuum truck and waterside response boats during off-loading, anticipated to begin Monday, as a precautionary measure.
Once on the pier, containers will be opened, inspected, and cleaned by Emerald Alaska Inc. Samples of oil will continue to be field tested to positively rule out presence of PCBs. All testing to date indicates no presence of the hazardous substance sometimes associated with transformer oil. Vacuum trucks will then transfer oil cargo into temporary storage tanks or “frac tanks."
“We are working as safely and efficiently as possible to complete response operations in a timely manner,” said Chris Graff, West Coast response services director for Gallagher Marine Systems, LLC, and the BBC Arizona’s representative on the Unified Command. “We sincerely appreciate the cooperation and hard work of all organizations involved, most especially the hospitality shown to us by the city and the assistance received from Ports and Harbor Director, Diane Kinney and her staff at Port Valdez.”
Crews shifted the BBC Arizona, Friday to accommodate arrival of a tug and barge delivering unrelated cargo Sunday afternoon.
For photos of the response or for more information, contact Lt. Allie Ferko at allison.e.ferko@uscg.mil, 907-835-7209 or cell 972-533-8185.
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.09.2013 22:55 |
| Story ID: | 108366 |
| Location: | VALDEZ, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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