Americas News
Concern Raised Over Environmental Safety of Fuel Transfer Operations on U.S. East Coast
Daniel Milligan, a retired ship captain in Portland, Maine, says lacking state regulations are enabling vessels in Casco Bay conducting ship to ship fuel transfer operations to do so without the use of proper spill prevention equipment, local media reports.
While Maine state law requires tankers unloading oil use a boom, and many dock operators also require refuelling vessels to utilise spill prevention equipment, the waters of Casco Bay - overseen by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MDEP) - were said to not have any such requirement.
"If you have a spill and have a boom, then the whole thing is contained," said Milligan, adding that "without a boom, it [spilled oil] travels with the tide. ... It's unrestricted, and there's no safety there without a boom."
Both MDEP and the Casco baykeeper are said to have confirmed that refuelling vessels in Casco Bay have done so without a boom, but neither could provide comment on how often the practice occurs.
Maine's regulatory officials say the low probability of a spill is outweighed by the high financial and time costs associated with setting up a boom around an anchored ship.
"You have to weigh the time and the effort and the economic impact of requiring booming of vessels while they're being bunkered against the risk of an oil spill," said Peter Blanchard, head of oil spill contingency planning at MDEP.
"We want to be reasonable as well as protective of the environment, and I think that is the balance that has been struck under the current regulation."
Still, some concerned citizens, oil professionals, and lawmakers were all said to have voiced concern that transferring oil in open water without a spill containment device presents both an unnecessary and unacceptable risk.
In response to Milligan's concerns over the risk of a spill in the bay, Portland state Senator Anne Haskell has stated that she is considering sponsoring legislation to address the issue.
"When you say you've never had a spill so we don't need to go through the expense, trouble, time, I still wonder how many people you have to have to wash the birds," said Haskell.
In May, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced the Foreign Spill Protection Act of 2016, which she said would amend the current standing 1990 Oil Pollution Act (OPA) to protect U.S. taxpayers against the cost of oil spills - including bunkers - in U.S. waters from foreign sources.
