Gig Harbor Fishing

I reported a while back on the Oil Spill in Gig Harbor on November the 19th. Surprisingly I have heard nothing more about this from any source. I have googled it just about every day and there seems to be no news on it at all. Today I sent E-Mails to the City of Gig Harbor and to the Department of Ecology to see what I could find out.

From the City I get silence. From the Department of Ecology I received two responses; one was a comment on the earlier blog post, the other was an E-Mail from a nice lady named Mary-Ellen Voss.

Both were identical wording.

Here is what they said.

Thank you for your questions about the Nov. 19, 2010, oil spill in Gig Harbor. Unfortunately, Ecology didn’t receive timely notification of the spill and by the time our responders arrived, they were unable to locate the source.

We worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to respond. However, since the spill wasn’t reported to us in a timely manner as required by state and federal law, the fuel had evaporated and dissolved into the water. Unfortunately, it was too dispersed and thin to recover by the time our responders got to the scene.

Ecology does anticipate environmental damage as a result of this spill.

All spills matter, regardless of size – even small- to medium-sized spills such as this one. Although there may not have been dramatic visual evidence of wildlife damage, cumulatively these spills add to the pre-existing toxic loading to Puget Sound – and that affects virtually all parts of the Sound’s ecosystem.

Ecology is committed to a rapid and aggressive response to hazardous materials spilled into state waters. Please report oil spills to 1-800-258-5990. You can also find more information about reporting environmental problems on our website at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/reportaproblem.html
Best regards,

I ended up with more questions than answers but have decided not to pursue this any further. It is obvious that what I got was a canned CYA response but I understand that. They greatly underestimated the size and scope of the spill originally but at least they are admitting it will cause some environmental problems now.

It is obviouse that if people don’t see it on the evening news, or the Daily Show, they don’t know what is going on. It is up to us as boaters and fishermen, the people that are out there using the resources to protect and patrol. When we see something wrong we need to report it immediately. I will be carrying these numbers on the boat and I have already plugged the website into my phone. And I’m asking you to please don’t be affraid to report these things  because if we don’t, nobody else will.

End of Rant

Good Fishin' To Ya'

Kerry W Allen