Commencement Bay News

U.S. shipbuilder SAFE Boats International will reopen its Tacoma, Wash. facility following the award of a $20 million lead contract for the U.S. Navy to start construction of the Mark VI patrol boats headed for the government of Ukraine.The U.S. Navy announced in January it had awarded SAFE Boats a portion of the contract to purchase long-lead material and associated pre-production and planning support with the remaining $80 million award anticipated in June.SAFE Boats’ Tacoma…

On March 3, the Coast Guard published a notice that Martin Midstream Partners (MMP), a petrochemical transport and storage company, was seeking approval to modify terminal operations in Beaumont, Texas, along the Sabine-Neches Waterway. If approved, MMP would expand its liquefied hazardous gas (LHG) operations, both in volume and products. Instead of just handling ammonia the change would allow shipments of butane, propane, ethane, ethylene and propylene.Critically, MMP’s expansion would increase LHG vessel transit from 24 ships to as many as 350 per year.

The Port of Tacoma and two contractors have agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty and restore wetland habitat at an estimated cost of over $3 million to compensate for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act that damaged valuable Puget Sound wetlands, according to a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice. The proposed settlement has been filed with the court and the public will have 30 days to provide comments, which the court will consider before the settlement is approved. In 2008, EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discovered that the Port of Tacoma hired a contractor to raze vegetation and destroyed more than four acres of wetlands in Hylebos Marsh…

Build-In-Washington Team announced for Washington State's next new ferry. Multi-company approach means 500 jobs across the region. Major members of the build-in-Washington subcontracting team that will build the state’s new 144-car ferry are now set, as prime contractor US Fab today announced final subcontracting agreements with companies, including Nichols Brothers Boat Builders of Whidbey Island, Jesse Engineering of Tacoma, Vigor Marine of Everett and Eltech Electric of Seattle. The multi-company, multi-town approach supports more than 500 direct jobs around Puget Sound, including many new hires, and will support an estimated 2,000 additional indirect jobs in the state.

The Port of Tacoma Commission named Clare Petrich Commission President and elected officers for 2009 on Jan. 22. Positions among Commissioners rotate yearly, based on procedures approved by the Port Commission in 1999. Petrich replaces Port Commissioner Dick Marzano as Commission President. Marzano will serve as Assistant Secretary in 2009. Port of Tacoma Commissioners serve four-year terms. The five-member Commission is the governing body of the Port, setting policy and authorizing major expenditures. Port Commission meetings and study sessions are open to the public and are held at The Fabulich Center (formerly Port Business Center), 3600 Port of Tacoma Road. Pierce County voters first elected Petrich to the Port Commission in 1995. She was re-elected in 1999, 2003 and 2007.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has fined Seattle-based Trident Seafoods $30,500 for an oil spill in December 2007 that sent almost 500 gallons of fuel into the Hylebos Waterway in Commencement Bay. The spill happened while the company’s tender vessel Bowfin was tied up at Trident Seafoods’ dock in Tacoma. A Trident Seafoods engineer began transferring diesel fuel between two tanks onboard the Bowfin. It appears a small fuel line became plugged, causing diesel to run out of a tank vent, across the deck and overboard. The company found the spill the evening of Dec. 10 after a diesel smell was traced back to the Bowfin.

The Coast Guard and Washington State Department of Ecology are continuing to respond to an estimated 380 gallon diesel fuel spill into Commencement Bay by the 160-ft. fishing vessel Bowfin. The Bowfin was performing an internal transfer of diesel fuel on Pier 25 in the Port of Tacoma when a security guard noticed and reported the vessel spilling the fuel overboard and into the water. In addition to the Coast Guard and the Department of Ecology, the Washington State Marine Cooperative has responded. The National Response Corporation Environmental Services (NRCES) was hired by Trident Seafood, the owner of the Bowfin, and is cleaning up the fuel. Approximately 400 gallons of oily water mix has been recovered by NRCES using skimmers.

MARMARAS NAVIGATION LTD, a Greek operator of a fleet of ocean going vessels transporting products around the world, recently plead guilty to a felony violation of the "Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships" for improperly documenting the handling of oily waste aboard the marine vessel ("M/V") Agia Eirini. MARMARAS pleaded guilty to a felony violation for failing to maintain proper records associated with the ship's handling of its waste oil. If approved by the court, the plea agreement requires that MARMARAS pay a criminal fine of $200,000, develop and implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan for its fleet of twenty-eight (28) ships that call on United States ports, and serve three (3) years on probation.

Dick Dorsett recently joined the Port of Tacoma as Governmental Affairs Manager. In this position, he manages the Port’s State Legislative agenda and works with local and regional communities on a number of key issues, including transportation and the environment. "Dick brings the Port a wealth of experience in state and local government," said Julie Collins, the Port's Director of Economic Development and Governmental Affairs. An attorney at law, Dorsett was Executive Director of the Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging before joining the Port. From 1988 to 1999, he was Deputy Director for Pierce County Government Relations, responsible for comprehensive issues management and policy development.

At a special action Port of Tacoma Commission, eight non-profit environmental groups received funding, and the Commission passed a resolution in support of the Shared Strategy for Puget Sound. The Port of Tacoma, Pierce County and the City of Tacoma jointly announced a total of $41,888 to environmental groups that are working to improve the environment of Commencement Bay and the lower Puyallup River watershed. Ranging from $3,000 to $7,000 per group, the source of the one-time awards are excess dollars funded but not spent on earlier, successfully completed Port, County and City environmental projects. According to R. Ted Bottiger, Port of Tacoma Commission President…

the world's largest container ships. long, are expected to be eclipsed by even larger ships in the near future. The Port of Tacoma has a naturally deep harbor that does not require maintenance dredging. Sitcum Waterway, already at 46-48 ft., to a depth of 51 ft. material to be removed over a five- to six-week period. bucket to remove material, which is barged to and deposited at a Department of Natural Resources-approved site in Commencement Bay (approximately 500 ft. in depth). The Sitcum Waterway was dredged to its current depth during 1994 environmental remediation dredging. allowed a 25-acre expansion of the Maersk-Sealand Terminal (APM Terminal) in 1996. container carrier serving Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. The facility boasts 132 acres (53 hectares) and two berths totaling 2,200 ft.

The Washington State Department of Ecology has negotiated an agreement by which Unix Line Private Ltd. of Singapore will pay $34,000 for negligently releasing 50 gallons of oily waste into Commencement Bay from the chemical tanker KAEDA. The company will also pay $5,194 for investigation and cleanup costs for the spill, which occurred on October 22, 2002.

The U.S. Department of Justice issued a Notice stating that a proposed consent decree with regard to the cleanup of the Middle Waterway Problem Area within the Commencement Bay/Nearshore Tide Flats Superfund Site at Tacoma, Wash. Under the proposed decree, cleanup would be the responsibility of Marine Industries Northwest, Inc.; Foss Maritime Company; Pioneer Industries, Inc.; State of Washington Department of Natural Resources; City of Tacoma; City of Tacoma Department of Public Utilities; Simpson Tacoma Land Company; Simpson Tacoma Kraft Corporation, LLC; Cook's Marine Specialties; Stuart Cook; and Western Machine Works. Comments on the proposed consent decree must be submitted within 30 days. 68 Fed. Reg. 36839