Mist Cove diesel fuel spill

Status updates

December 16, 2010

On December 3, 2010, Ecology issued a penalty and assessments to recover state response costs and for damage to natural resources.

March 10, 2010

NRC-Environmental Services, the private response contractor hired by The Boat Company, continues work on cleaning up the area around the spill site. They have deployed oil-absorbing pads and sweeps – long strips of absorbent material – and are checking these for replacement or removal.

March 9, 2010

Ecology conducted an aerial survey yesterday afternoon between about 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and observed streamers of unrecoverable sheen in Sinclair Inlet reaching toward Bremerton and Rich Passage.

March 8, 2010

The Department of Ecology, U.S. Coast Guard, The Boat Company and NRC-Environmental Services responded to a diesel fuel spill at the Port Orchard Railway Marina in Port Orchard.

An initial estimate of 100 gallons of fuel spilled from the Mist Cove, a private, 146-foot commercial passenger vessel moored at the marina. A crew member was conducting an internal fuel transfer late Monday afternoon when a fuel tank overflowed.

Ecology and Coast Guard responders and vessel inspectors arrived at the scene at about 6:30 p.m. and stayed for several hours to ensure prompt actions were taken to clean up the spill and investigate the cause.

The Boat Company of Poulsbo, which owns the Mist Cove, has accepted responsibility for the spill and hired NRC-ES, a private cleanup contractor who is on site to contain and clean up as much of the fuel as possible.

It appears most of the diesel fuel entered Sinclair Inlet and could not be recovered. Ecology and the Coast Guard anticipate there will be an oily sheen on the water which will be visible in the morning.

Cleanup and the investigation regarding the circumstances surrounding the spill will continue.

All spills matter, regardless of size. Diesel fuel is an environmental poison and adds to the toxic load already impacting Puget Sound.