Thursday, July 10th, 2008

U.S. West Coast and Alaska in the spotlight as the U.S. Coast Guard participates in four noteworthy events

•USCG Cutter MELLON Patrolling Arctic Waters

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Coast Guard Cutter Mellon is presently deployed to the Alaskan Frontier conducting the full spectrum of Coast Guard missions. These efforts include ensuring the safety of the fishing fleet working in one of the most dangerous, but resource rich fishing grounds in the world, ensuring foreign fishing vessels do not trespass into the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, and that U.S. fishermen follow established regulations designed to ensure the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska remain sustainable fisheries long into the future.

Mellon just days ago departed Nome, Alaska following a brief community engagement stop where they were anchored off the city.

"The people of Nome were gracious hosts..." said Captain Eric Chamberlin, Commanding Officer Coast Guard Cutter Mellon, "...now we are off again patrolling the Bering Sea in support of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District, including patrolling through the Bering Strait and North of the Arctic Circle." While in the U. S. Arctic, the Cutter Mellon will be protecting U. S. interests in the developing region. These interests include developing Arctic Domain Awareness, projecting national sovereignty, and guarding U. S. resource deposits in the region.

"For many of the crew on board Mellon, going into the Arctic is an eye opening experiences and one that very much sets the stage for future Coast Guard operations in the region" said Chamberlin.

"This directing of Mellon to patrol farther to the north and our increased C-130 Hercules aircraft patrols into the region in support of expanding our Arctic Domain Awareness are a precursor to future operations in the Arctic that will be critical to our nation and Alaska." said Captain Michael Inman, Chief of Response for the Seventeenth Coast Guard District.

The Mellon is a High Endurance Cutter homeported in Seattle, Washington. The cutter Mellon was designed to perform each of the Coast Guard's missions, which include search and rescue, defense operations, law enforcement, and environmental protection.
Editor's note: Arctic Domain Awareness flights continue from Kodiak and an Arctic awareness deployment is planned for Barrow from July 27 to Aug 10 in anticipation of the Coast Guard's increasing role in the Arctic. This Arctic awareness deployment will include efforts to determine existing and future Coast Guard requirements in the Arctic.

•Washington State Department of Ecology Says Cleanup finished for oil spill along Columbia River near Kalama

OLYMPIA (July 9, 2008): Cleanup efforts finished overnight from a heavy fuel oil spill that occurred Tuesday afternoon near the Port of Kalama along the Columbia River. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) and U.S. Coast Guard responded to the spill.

Approximately 10 gallons of black fuel oil spilled from the decks of the M/V Portland Bay into the river. Spill responders from Ecology's Vancouver Field Office believe most of the spilled fuel was recovered from the water.

The bulk carrier vessel Portland Bay was receiving fuel over water from a barge when the first tank overfilled, sending about 500 gallons of fuel oil to the carrier's deck.
An Ecology fuel-transfer inspector was on board the vessel at the time of the spill. Most of the spill was contained to the deck, but about 10 gallons spilled over the side and into the Columbia River.

State regulations that went into effect in October 2007 require that when conditions are safe, and it is effective to do so, vessels need to deploy oil containment boom equipment before starting oil transfers over water at rates of 500 gallons per minute or more.
The new "pre-booming" requirements cover all types of petroleum and plant-based fuel products such as crude oil, diesel and bio-diesel fuel and heavy fuel oils. The Portland Bay had boom in place when the spill occurred.

"Our first priority is preventing spills from occurring, but pre-booming for oil transfers is our next line of defense," said Diane Butorac, interim Spill Prevention Section Manager. "This is a textbook example of how these preventative measures protect our environment. Luckily, very little spilled overboard, and it was cleaned up more readily because it was contained by the boom. But in reality, this spill should never have happened in the first place."

Crews removed the 500 gallons of heavy fuel oil on the deck by scooping it into 55-gallon barrels. With cleanup finished overnight, the Portland Bay is back under way.
A joint Ecology-Coast Guard investigation into the spill indicates that a valve was not properly adjusted, allowing fuel to pour into an already-near capacity tank as well as an empty one. When the first tank finished filling, the overflow came up on the deck.

•USDOJ: Owner, Operator, and Chief engineer of Greek Ocean-Going Vessel RIO GOLD Indicted on Environmental Offenses

OAKLAND (July 9, 2008): United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that today a federal grand jury in Oakland indicted Casilda Shipping, Ltd., the Greek company that owned the Rio Gold, a 23,000 ton ocean-going cargo ship flagged in Malta, Genesis Seatrading Corporation, the Greek operator, and the Greek Chief Engineer, Mr. Pantelis Thomas, with conspiracy to violate the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS), substantive violations of APPS, false statements made to the Coast Guard, and the falsification of records. The criminal charges stem from the illegal discharge of oil and garbage into the ocean on several occasions prior to the Rio Gold's call on the port of Oakland on May 26, 2008.

According to the indictment, the Ship's Chief Engineer, Mr. Thomas, ordered the manufacture and use of equipment, known in the trade as a "magic pipe," to by-pass the anti-pollution equipment on the ship and ordered the crew to illegally discharge waste oil directly into the ocean. Additionally, in violation of APPS, crew members dumped two large plastic barrels into the ocean, one filled with oil sludge and the other filled with hydrochloric acid. To prevent the detection of these crimes, the defendants falsified the records that they were required to maintain concerning any discharge of oil and garbage, failed to note the illegal discharges described above, and falsely represented the use of pollution equipment and an incinerator to handle the waste.

The violations came to the attention of the Coast Guard after the Rio Gold docked in Oakland on May 26th when four crew members volunteered concerns about the illegal activities. A subsequent inspection of the Rio Gold uncovered the "magic pipe" disassembled and stored away. The indictment alleges that the illegal dumping of waste oil into the ocean occurred beginning with the period the Rio Gold was first purchased in July 2007 until shortly before it came to Oakland in May, 2008.

The defendants were first charged by Complaint on June 13, 2008. The defendants appeared on June 19, 2008, before United States Magistrate Judge Wayne D. Brazil and were arraigned on the Complaint. Mr. Thomas was released on bond which required him to remain in the United States pending the resolution of the case. All three defendants will be arraigned on the Indictment on July 10, 2008, at 9:30 am before United States Magistrate Judge Maria-Elena James in San Francisco.

Mr. Thomas faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison for the conspiracy offense, 18 U.S.C. § 371, and the two counts of False Statements, 18 U.S.C. § 1001. For each of the two charges of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, 33 U.S.C. § 1908(a), Mr. Thomas faces a maximum of five years in prison, and for each of the two charges of Falsification of Records, 18 U.S.C. § 1519, Mr. Thomas faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. On each of the seven charges, Mr. Thomas also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and three years of supervised release.

Each of the two corporate defendants, Casilda Shipping, Ltd,. and Genesis Seatrading Corporation, faces a maximum fine of $500,000 and a maximum term of probation of five years on each of the seven counts charged.

However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and §18 U.S.C. § 3553, the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Wade Rhyne and Stephen Corrigan are prosecuting the case with the assistance of legal technician Katie Turner. The United States Coast Guard investigated the case.

Any indictment contains only allegations and, as with all defendants, Defendant Thomas and both defendant corporations are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Further Information: Case #: CR 08-488-CW / A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

•SPIRIT OF GLACIER BAY Sustains Damage in Grounding in Tarr Inlet, is Refloated and Eventually Allowed to Proceed Under Escort to Auke Bay

Coast Guard assets responded to the 178-foot Spirit of Glacier Bay after grounding in Tarr Inlet near Glacier Bay National Park with 51 people aboard at approximately 7:45 hours of 7 July. The Coast Guard initially launched two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters from Air Station Sitka, a 47-foot motor life boat and a 25-foot response boat from Station Juneau, and launched the 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter Liberty, from Auke Bay, to assist the cruise ship Spirit of Glacier Bay. The Glacier Bay National Park Service vessel Fairweather II Express was also dispatched to assist. Spill booms were deployed around the vessel as a precaution.

The vessel was eventually refloated from the sand bar at 1623 hours of the same day, at which time the vessel's propulsion system was found to be operational. No pollution was been reported, but boom was prestaged on board as a precautionary measure. All passengers and non-essential crew were transferred from the vessel to the Glacier Bay Park Service vessel, Fairweather II Express, and taken to Gustavus, Alaska. Remaining on board were essential crew, a Coast Guard inspector and investigator, along with three divers.

On the following morning, divers evaluated the vessel's hull and reported that there was no breach of the external hull. Inspectors did, however, identify structural damage that compromises watertight integrity and this damage was ordered to be corrected prior to resuming passenger operations. Following the inspections, the Coast Guard and State of Alaska authorized the Spirit of Glacier Bay to transit to Auke Bay. Cruise West, the vessel's operator, provided a transit plan that included an escort from a tug and a standby vessel with an oil response equipment. The grounding remains the focus of a Coast Guard investigation. Additionally, the U.S. Coast Guard made the following video and photographs available:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321632

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321242

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321283

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321497

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321450

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=321198



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