GRP: Strait of Juan de Fuca
Strategy Area: McDonald Creek CLA0152
Strategy Number: STR-31
Checked By: USCG/NW Oil spill control course
Date: 8/19/2009
Type: Field Test
Latitude:
Longitude:
Location: East of Port Angeles, along creekbed...
Response Strategy: DRILL Accessed via water, 2 medium deployment boats (2500' boom collectively) and 1 small work boat. 07 personnel, plus boat drivers. drug boom out from medium sized vessels due to shallow water preventing vessels from accessing shore (work boat e
Feet/Type of Boom: GRP calls for 400 feet of boom. 600 ft was employed. Recommend re-evaluation of required boom. 400 would not have been nearly enough (nearly 300 feet of boom was used simply to get across large beach to high-tide line).
Strategy Implementation:
Staging Area: Ediz Hook boat ramp.
Site Access:
Resources Requiring Protection:
Comments: calm, warm weather.... incoming tide. GRP calls for 02 personnel. due to environmental constraints (large beach at low tide, shallow depth), recommend a minimum of 4 personnel in addition to boat crews, 3 on the beach, and at least 1 floater to remain on boats/aid on shore. 400 feet of boom is not sufficient. 600 was used with fairly good results. if low tide, a significant amount of boom is used to clear beach area. In addition, if heavy outflow from creek were to exist, entrainment may occur if boom too short. Recommend using geographic descriptors to indicate where boom ends should be fixed to the shore. there is a bridge there that could be used as a reference. Recommend 30 feet on either side of the bridge. Recommend that GRP include information about shallow approach.. starting several hundred feet from the beach the water depth is only 2-3 feet. Work boats may/will have difficulty reaching the beach when using engines. Recommend responders, if deployed via vessel, boots or waders (preferred). Perhaps deploying shore-side personnel from a shore asset vice bringing them via boat would be preferential. Entire beach can disappear in a matter of minutes during incoming tide. incoming swell MAY require the use of 2 anchors to ensure proper boom shape. 1 anchor was deployed but even minimum swell was pushing the boom towards the beach. if weather allows, and deploying from a vessel, elongating boom and using heaving lines attached to each end to pass to shore personnel may be more ideal than trying to use a workboat to navigate the ends to shore. extensive shore effort is required to move boom as the work boat is limited. Heaving lines may allow for more shoreside ease.