On December 14th, 2007 OSC Sonja Vega was contacted by the U.S. Coast Guard (U.S.C.G.) regarding a sunken recreational vessel and offered U.S. EPA assistance. The U.S.C.G. monitored the vessel throughout the weekend and again contacted OSC Vega on December 17th, 2007. At approximately 1300 hours on December 17th, U.S. EPA OSC Craig Thomas was contacted by OSC Sonja Vega regarding the vessel.
The vessel is an approximately 110' long house boat, which partially sank on the Mississippi River, between mile markers 811.5 and 811.6, in Washington County, Minnesota (also near Prescott, Wisconsin). The vessel is partially submerged on the port side.
On board, there is a 100 gallon vegetable oil tank, two 60 gallon vegetable oil tanks, seven 55-gallon drums of home heating oil, and approximately 12 gallons of lube oil in the engine. To date, the materials have not released to the Mississippi River.
The U.S.C.G. served the owner of the vessel with a Notice of Federal Interest on December 13th. However, the U.S.C.G. indicated that the owner has no funds available to address the potential release. The U.S.C.G. indicated that based on the Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S.C.G. and U.S. EPA Region 5, that U.S. EPA has jurisdictional authority, as the vessel is a recreational vessel. Therefore, U.S. EPA will take the lead on this response.
U.S. EPA OSC Craig Thomas was dispatched to the incident. The Oil Pollution Fund has been opened and a BOA contractor has been hired. U.S. EPA will remove the oils from the tanks, and the drums to prevent a release.
U.S. EPA, the BOA Contractor, START and the U.S.C.G. mobilized to the site on December 18th. The vessel is submerged on the port side, where it is under about 5 feet of water.
Based on the assessment, it appears feasible to set up a vac truck along BNSF railroad property.
BNSF was contacted and access to their property has been obtained. BNSF will also provide a flagger to ensure saftey while working near the railroad track.
Equipment necessary to conduct the ER has been ordered and should arrive on site by 12/18/07.
From the assessment, it appears that none of the oil from the vessel has escaped from the interior of the hull. However, if action is not taken immediately, the oil may escape from the hull and reach the Mississippi River.
A significant amount of oil-soaked debris was also observed. It is currently estimated that approximately 5 yards of oil-soaked debris will need to be disposed of.
Per BNSF's request, hose will be run underneath the railroad ballast to the boat. Once the hose is set up, the vessel tanks can be pumped out.
A dive team will also enter the submerged portion of the vessel to locate the 55-gallon drums. Once located, the drums will be postioned such that the vac truck hose can pump them out.
Oil soaked debris was also encountered on board the vessel. It is currently estimated that about 4-5 yard of debris will need to be disposed of. The debris will be bagged as it is removed from the vessel so that it can be temporarily stored on the shore line; the debris will be disposed of the same day.
Clean up efforts are planned to commence at 8:00 a.m. on 12/19/07. It is anticipated that the action will take about 3 days to complete unless additional issues are identified by the dive team.
Monitor weather conditions which may have a significant impact on this response.
Conduct the removal action.
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