OIL SPILL RESPONSE PLANNING ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER ESTUARY

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Columbia River Estuary lies along the Washington-Oregon state boundary on the west coast of the United States. The entire area is environmentally very sensitive with numerous large, shallow bays, exposed mud flats, wetland areas, and central channels having maximum currents of three to four knots. These features make the area very difficult to protect from an oil spill. Spill response is further complicated because of the many different state, federal, and local jurisdictions with mandated responsibilities in oil spill response and environmental protection. Under the leadership of the U. S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Portland, Oregon, a steering group was established to guide the development of a response plan for the Columbia River Estuary. A concerted effort was made to include representatives from response organizations, natural resource agencies, and resource users from federal, state, and local governments, and commercial sectors in the planning process. The first draft of an operational response plan was completed the summer of 1992 through a combination of technical workshops, field trips, and small working groups meeting with local communities. The Columbia River Estuary Response Plan prioritizes areas to protect; identifies specific response strategies for protecting these areas; and outlines the logistics needed to implement these strategies, including equipment needs, the location of staging areas, and the identification of pre-designated command posts. The local spill response cooperative and oil transportation industry are using the plan to coordinate the purchase of response equipment and the staging of this equipment at numerous locations along the river. Key to the success of the plan is ensuring that all the groups responding to an event participate in the planning process together. This process has worked well for the Columbia River Estuary and will serve as a model for response planning for other environmentally sensitive areas along the Columbia River and coastal areas of Washington and Oregon.