The fishing vessel Deceptive C reportedly ran aground near Wrangell on July 3 during high tide conditions. No one had been injured during the incident, but several thousand pounds of waste had to be collected from the scene by a joint USCG-DEC effort.
While Wrangell was preparing for its July 4 festivities last week, 17 miles away a fishing vessel had run aground in Stikine Strait.
On the evening of July 3 the grounding of Deceptive C on some rocks was reported to the United States Coast Guard command center in Juneau. Cutter Bailey Barco was dispatched to the scene, confirming the vessel had run aground but reporting no injuries.
Minimal sheening from three gallons of oily bilge water was present at the time, and the USCG worked with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation under a unified command structure to contain and remediate pollution from the wrecked craft.
Southeast region supervisor for DEC's Prevention Preparedness and Response Program, Dave Pikul explained that USCG's Marine Safety Detachment Ketchikan opened its Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and contracted Power Systems and Supplies on July 4 to undertake the mitigation. A crew arrived in the early hours of July 5 and were able to contain the slick and access the boat for materials retrieval.
"Fortunately the release was minimal, and they were able to get on board the vessel," Pikul said. "It was quite a high tide event when it ran aground," he added.
Working through July 6, the contractor was able to clean discharged diesel fuel and remove other oil products and hazardous materials from the Deceptive C. The Coast Guard reported Friday that approximately 3,000 pounds of oily waste and debris had been recovered from the grounded vessel.
"Responders focused on a safe and effective evolution this week to remove the hazardous materials and the vessel no longer poses a threat to the environment," MSD Ketchikan supervisor Lt. David Evans said in a release. "Outstanding cooperation between Federal and State partners and industry led to the success of this operation."
As of Tuesday, the vessel remains grounded. Pikul explained the issue of its removal is now the domain of the Department of Natural Resources.
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