COYLE – Divers and other cleanup responders contained a diesel fuel spill Thursday in Fisherman Harbor at the southern tip of the Toandos Peninsula before it seeped into Hood Canal.
The spill spread a oil sheen about 100 yards wide by about one mile long, officials said.
An oil containment boom was stretched across the mouth of the bay and prevented it from drifting into the Hood Canal.
“At this point, Ecology is done with this particular operation,” Kim Schmanke, a state Department of Ecology spokeswoman, said late Thursday afternoon.
Schmanke said it was unknown how much diesel spilled from the sunken vessel’s fuel tank.
Ecology and Coast Guard officials descended on the diesel spill from a sinking derelict 32-foot pleasure craft that was tied up to two other derelict vessels that prevented it from further sinking.
The fuel tanks were drained and plugged to prevent future spills and the vessels were turned over to Jefferson County, which owns the affected tidelands, Schmanke said.
The Coast Guard auxiliary and the State Patrol conducted two separate flyovers Thursday morning to determine the extent of the spill.
Officials called in crews with Global Diving & Salvage of Seattle, and National Response Corporation Environmental Services to place absorbent pads to soak up the oil and deploy oil containment booms across the mouth of Fisherman Harbor, a narrow inlet into the the Toandos Peninsula tip.
The site is southeast of Quilcene.
The Port of Port Townsend called on Global Diving & Salvage last year to clean up an oil spill at Port Townsend Boat Haven marina.
“The sheen has really thinned out,” said Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez, spokesman for the Coast Guard, the federal agency overseeing the spill recovery effort.
While the source of the spill was contained, officials said it could take between two and three days to dissipate.
“The sheen on the water is most likely not recoverable at this point,” said Nancy Jackson, an Ecology spokeswoman.
Ecology officials said derelict vessels are a constant threat to the health of Puget Sound’s waterways.
“Derelict and abandoned vessels clearly pose an environmental risk and we frequently have to respond to fuel spills from these orphaned boats,” said Jim Sachet, who oversees spill response activities in southwest Washington.
“Although a portion of the fuel will dissipate, the spill adds to the load of toxic materials already in the Puget Sound region.”
Personnel from the state departments of Natural Resources and Fish and Wildlife, as well as county fire fighters and deputies helped with the cleanup.
According to state Fish and Wildlife officials, Fisherman’s Bay is a shallow estuary, and is prime spawning ground for smelt and other forage fish.
Great blue heron a waterfowl also live and feed in the estuary.
Shallow estuaries throughout Puget Sound are critical habitat for crab, shellfish, eelgrass, and other natural resources.
Diesel is toxic to the environment and the damage starts as soon as the fuel hits water, Ecology officials said.
