STEWARDSHIP OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson, U.S. Coast Guard District 14

The Coast Guard prides itself on being Semper Paratus "Always Ready," with its five main mission areas: maritime safety; maritime security; maritime mobility; national defense; and the protection of natural resources.

All Coast Guard mission areas are important, but here in Hawaii, the protection of natural resources is especially significant.

More than 90 percent of America's coral reefs are found within the jurisdiction of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District, based here. Protecting coral reefs and other inhabitants of the marine environment from the impact of oil spills and other hazards through effective planning and response efforts is a primary goal of the Coast Guard's marine environmental program.

"The Coast Guard strives to prevent oil spills and chemical releases from occurring as well as educate the public and boating industries on maritime environmental and pollution issues and laws," said Petty Officer 1^st Class Michael Malone, a pollution investigator at the Incident Management Division at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu.

"The Coast Guard's main concern in a pollution threat is to mitigate damage to the environment," said Malone.

Coast Guard environmental response personnel must ensure specific actions occur when an oil spill is reported to District 14 personnel or the National Response Center, which is the sole federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills

After a spill is reported, notifications are made to Coast Guard response personnel as well as responders with various local, state and federal agencies. Pollution responders and investigators must then quickly deploy appropriate resources to effectively manage the timely cleanup of the spill.

For most spills, Coast Guard environmental response personnel oversee contracted spill cleanup companies.

Some of these resources the Coast Guard employs include deployable boom, which is a protective barrier placed on the water to prevent the spread of oil, and an oil spill recovery setup called VOSS (Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System). VOSS is designed for larger vessels and is usually placed about large Coast Guard cutters.

Here in Oahu, two 225-foot seagoing buoy tenders - the cutters Walnut and Kukui - serve as platforms for the VOSS, which make available a host of spill response equipment, including skimmers, boom and pumps.

The Coast Guard is typically the lead agency for any response effort. Under the National Contingency Plan, Coast Guard Captains of the Port (COTP) are the pre-designated Federal On-Scene Coordinators for oil and hazardous releases. However, the service also relies on other agencies that have a stake in protecting Hawaii's precious ecosystem. Some of these agencies include: Clean Islands Council, Pacific Environmental Corporation (PENCO), Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC), and the Hawaii Fire and Police Department.

"We work closely with (other agencies) so we can help reduce the number of marine accidents," said Petty Officer 1^st Class Robert Fairchild, a pollution investigator at the Incident Management Division at Coast Guard Sector Honolulu.

These cooperative efforts are having a dramatic impact on the number of oil spills in Hawaiian waters.  

In a report released by the Coast Guard in 1996, 1,261 oil spills were reported, which resulted in 92,180 gallons of oil spilled in Hawaiian waters. Through a series of improved laws and regulations and a team effort on the part of local, state and federal response partners, that number has dramatically decreased; in a 2006 report, 24,175 gallons were reported spilled, said Petty Officer 1^st Class Katherine Westman, a marine science technician for the Incident Management Division at Sector Honolulu.

The men and women of the Fourteenth Coast Guard District will continue to work to prevent oil spills and educate the public about the hazards these spills pose, but more importantly, it will continue to be "Always Ready" to respond.

To report an oil spill, please contact Coast Guard Sector Honolulu at 808-842-2600 or the National Response Center at 800-424-8802.

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