The Department of Ecology (DOE) has fined Seattle-based K-Sea Transportation $21,000 for an oil spill last year. According to the DOE, ten gallons of diesel fuel spilled into Salmon Bay on March 31, 2009. The DOE says the diesel fuel overflowed during fuel transfer between two tanks on board the K-Sea tug Tiger and the company responded immediately and conducted an effective cleanup. Investigators determined that the chief engineer did not follow the company’s policies for planning and supervising tank-to-tank fuel transfers, a release from the DOE states.
“Our emergency response procedures and drills enabled us to conduct an effective cleanup and remove all visible oil from the environment,” John Lawrence, K-Sea’s Vice President of Health, Safety, Quality and Environment says. “We conducted a full investigation of the incident which led us to take additional actions, including engineering modifications and revision of certain operating procedures, in order to prevent future occurrences.”
This is the third fine for K-Sea. In 2008, the company was fined $2,000 after the Tiger lost 120 gallons at a dock in Ferndale. That same year, a different tug spilled 25 gallons into Bellingham Bay, leading to a fine of $500.