By Chief James Hinton
Magnolia Springs VFD
April 27, 2010, started as most days ending a 24-hour tour on my job as a paramedic and then going into the office for my other role as Field Operations Supervisor for Medstar Emergency Medical Services. I sat at my desk and powered up my computer and went straight to check out the news of the day on al.com.
The lead story of the day was that oil had been found within 25 miles of Dauphin Island. Dauphin Island is a barrier island on Mobile Bay that is approximately 14 nautical miles from Weeks Bay. Weeks Bay feeds the Magnolia and Fish River systems that are established federally recognized and protected estuaries. Until this point, I knew of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and knew that a catastrophe loomed; however, I did not realize that it would be so imminent.
My sense of preparedness comes from the many hurricanes over the years that we experience and knowing that the initial response is left up to the agencies involved and that it can be 72 hours or more before any other assistance is available. I immediately began collecting boom from resources that I knew were available predominately other fire departments; within eight hours I had procured about 600 feet of absorbent boom.
The next step was to contact Baldwin County EMA to request additional boom since there would need to be a minimum of 1400 feet just to protect the mouth of the Magnolia River. This call was the first of many stunning conversations with other agencies. I was told that “people were blowing this thing out of proportion it is nothing but sweet crude” and that is when I stated to them that “I didn’t care if it was sweet crude or sour crude, white crude or black crude I didn’t want it in my river.”
I was instructed to call back the next day and an answer would be given as to how many feet were available. The following day I contacted Baldwin County EMA to find the answer to my question on boom availability. This is when I was told that they had “a bunch.” My reply: “I’m not used to that unit of measurement, could you please convert that into yards or meters?” Then I contacted the Alabama Marine Police since I needed their permission to shut down a navigable body of water. This is when the Captain of the Marine Police brought up the idea of protecting Weeks Bay and that would protect the estuaries, the bay, and both rivers. I agreed totally since this would cut in half the amount of boom needed.
Strength of a community
As the week went on the word got around that we were mustering in an effort to protect the mouth of Weeks Bay and our small community of about 1,000 people started to become active. The Mayor and Council purchased 1,000 feet of “hard” containment boom and a relative of a citizen drove 300 miles to bring us another 600 feet of absorbent boom and pads. As I looked at the challenges ahead the biggest of all was the fact of the wave height at the mouth of the bay.
Knowing that hydrocarbons generally have a specific gravity of less than one and that wave heights generally reach one to two feet in the area, our boom would be rendered ineffective with the oil washing right over the top. To discuss the issues and others I decided to have a meeting on Saturday, May 1, with the Mayor and a couple of Council members and my command staff. Little did I know that the meeting would be so well attended and productive.
Saturday morning rolled around and to my surprise our classroom was filled with around 30 citizens of the community. I chose to take this opportunity to use the wisdom of many that had lived here all of their lives. These people knew the area but more importantly knew the water and how the currents acted and what tidal patterns occurred when and for what reason. So I presented them our problem of the wave height.
Ideas came abound over using different things to break the wave action up and make it more manageable. Out of the many ideas rose the concept of using “spud” barges. Spud barges have large steel pipes that when the barge is set in place the pipes are driven into the sea floor and the barges then float up and down dependent on tide levels. In order to keep the barges slightly below the water line, water would be added to them.
This would allow continuous breaking of the waves no matter the tide height. The original group of my command staff and town leadership met again on Sunday, May 2, and reconfirmed the idea. I once again contacted Baldwin County EMA to request additional containment boom for redundancy in our plan and was advised that the request would be submitted to the state; this would actually be the third request. The next step was to secure funding for the project.
Analyzing the numbers
The Magnolia Springs Fire Department is an all volunteer department that receives funding from three sources: a county wide ad-valorum tax, donations and a small State forestry grant. Our annual budget including capital expenditures averages approximately $185,000. The Town of Magnolia Springs annual budget averages approximately $125,000.
Neither the department nor the town have much room to move outside of their budgets. We began to contact barge contractors in order to get pricing on the project and we found that renting the barges would probably be the most economical route. During this we found that the Coast Guard requires a push boat and operator on site 24/7 should a barge break loose or a problem occur; with this information and the barges needed the total price came to $27,000 a week. This is when we received word that no one was to implement any measures without the expressed consent of the Unified Command or there would be consequences.
To ensure that the physical and chemical properties of the oil were as I thought; I requested an MSDS sheet through Baldwin County EMA after several more requests by myself, I received a poorly photocopied MSDS that was simply titled “Crude Oil”. I had serious reservations about the validity of the MSDS since it didn’t mention B/P and appeared to be generic at best not even referring to the product as sweet crude.
I contacted Chem-Trec and they had nothing, but referred me to B/P’s MSDS request website. After about a week I received the true MSDS for “Sweet Crude” by B/P. Their own MSDS proved what they had been saying was not possible all along. The first thing I looked at was Specific Gravity and the range was 0.74 to 1.03; this told me that the oil could float on top, be miscible or sink below the water. BP denied that oil plumes could be present when their own MSDS shows it is entirely possible.
‘We could not rely on others to protect us’
During this time frame a “Booming Plan” came to light. It showed a tremendous amount of boom to be deployed in a triple layer in an effort to protect Weeks Bay. It just so happens that after reviewing the plan I received a phone call that someone was out at Weeks Bay deploying boom. I proceeded to meet the crew performing the deployment.
I inquired as to who they worked for and was told they were sub-contractors of B/P. I noticed that they had merely about three hundred feet of boom when the “Booming Plan” called for nothing short of miles. They told me that was all they would be placing. I asked about the water overtaking the boom and was told that was not being addressed. Once again I felt we could not rely on others to protect us.
Around May 14 the Mayor called and informed me that B/P was going to allot some funding to the State of Alabama that would be passed down to municipalities in order to implement some protective measures. Great news, or so I thought at first until he stated that we had until Saturday the 15 of May at 1000 hours to have a complete and detailed package submitted including our plan.
We worked feverishly throughout the night and presented our plan before a panel the following morning at which time the money was approved. At the start of the meeting an announcement came from Baldwin County EMA that there was no containment boom left available in the country that B/P and the Coast Guard had bought everything including backorder stock. After three separate requests from myself, we never received any boom. Yet a relief came over us both; we not only secured the funding but our plan had been approved or so we thought.
Time to deploy
About this same time frame oil inundated the marshes in Louisiana proving to me once again we must not wait on unified command to protect us. The Mayor and I secured a contract on the barges and both agreed that we would deploy the barges once oil was confirmed on Dauphin Island and/or the Fort Morgan Peninsula but not to fully close the area until oil had entered Mobile Bay. The MSVFD then began to pre-stage boom in the water in a position where it could be stretched and connected as soon as the threat of oil arrived. May 28 came, Memorial Day Weekend, and suddenly oil was on the beaches from Dauphin Island to the Alabama/Florida line and it was time to deploy the barges. We contacted Baldwin County EMA to inform them of our intent; they contacted Unified Command and called us back saying that Unified Command had not heard of our plan and it was not approved. We began making phone calls to State Legislatures and the Governor’s Office and eventually received approval for deployment and so it began.
We were set to begin at first light Saturday morning, May 29. Friday evening I received a phone call from a gentleman stating he was with the New York Times and that he would like to meet me and talk about our plan then shadow me on Saturday. We began our deployment on the 29th and the reporter from the times stayed with me the whole time, interviewing other responders and citizens alike.
That day we deployed the barges, we had wave height of about 18 inches and once the barges were in place the water behind them was smooth as silk; what we had envisioned worked. The reporter left for New York Sunday morning and I had to return to duty at my full-time job. Around midnight on Monday I went onto the New York Times website and saw the article it was simply astonishing and was set to appear on page 18A of the New York edition on Tuesday, June 1. It appeared Tuesday and by Wednesday morning I had a phone call from one of my firefighters requesting my presence at the deployment site.
I arrived to find three boats, two waste oil tanks, two vacuum trucks, two large tents an office trailer, about 30 people and a supervisor standing in the area. The supervisor walked up and introduced himself to me and stated “I was sent here by B/P to do whatever you need me to do.” I was shocked to say the least. The New York Times article had led to national and international media attention that had apparently gotten the ear of someone at Unified command.
Next I thought I would try to offer for B/P to move their boom behind the barges in an effort to make it more productive. It should be noted that up to this day I still have no way of contacting Unified Command. Having no means of contacting them, I called on a friend that was a reporter attending press briefings at Unified Command and asked him a favor. I simply asked him at the next press conference to stand and ask them to call me and give them my cellular number. He did just that and I received a phone call shortly.
The phone call came from a female that sounded of foreign descent that spoke broken English at best. I attempted to explain at least three times the proposal that I had regarding B/P moving their boom and I finally gave up after she never seemed to understand. I then elected to contact Baldwin County EMA to inquire where our Area Command was based. If Unified Command was following NIMS principals we should have an Area Command established and maybe that is where I need to direct my comments and concerns. I was informed by the EMA Director that we operate under the unified command and there is no area command.
Throughout this time period my mind kept wandering back to the thoughts of the underwater plume that “did not exist"; there had to be a way to combat it. We proposed several plans but none seemed to work. One plan we had was to make something similar to a Kelp forest underwater. We would use large cylindrical shaped pieces of concrete weighing roughly 250 pounds that we implanted a chain in when we poured.
From that we would attach three to four pieces of absorbent boom and the natural buoyancy of the boom would allow it to float up and the water would brush against it and the oil would adhere to the boom. Would you believe that four 10-foot pieces of 8-inch absorbent boom will float 250 pounds of concrete? It will! Many other designs were attempted until we reached something that we felt would work; hair boom.
The hair boom was not buoyant; we devised an idea to build a large rope grid; making the grids large enough for most sea life to swim through then hinging the hair boom in nylon bags from the top of each grid. No matter which way the tide was moving it would freely swing in that direction and somewhat scrub the water as it went by. We put a prototype together and sent divers down to observe and it worked; another piece of the puzzle in place. From this point things became a little chaotic.
The Mayor had suffered a family crisis and was going to be away for a while. We had worked seamlessly together throughout this ordeal. When I stood to say they could take me to jail if they wanted for violating the Unified Command’s order that no one could take action; he stood to say “they will take me too.” We had a great working relationship and when he left he appointed a council committee to oversee the incident which included me.
Unforseen obstacles
Around the 9th of June we had confirmation that oil had made its way into Mobile Bay and had seriously contaminated a saltwater marsh on the Fort Morgan Peninsula. I contacted the two council members on the committee and we decided to go forward with the plan. Immediately I issued press releases to media outlets informing them of our intentions so that boaters would be aware that in the morning the mouth of Weeks Bay would be closed. I contacted a neighboring department to assist us in the operation and it was all set to begin at 0600 hours on the 10th of June.
That morning I arrived by boat at the site which contains a public access boat launch. I see a citizen that has just launched his boat and inform him of our plan and that he may not be able to get back through. He then informs me that is not the case and points to the two councilmembers on the committee and tells me that according to them we are not closing anything.
At this point I dock my boat and approach them to find out what has transpired. Apparently they had determined that it was not necessary because it was an outgoing tide. Well I understand tides but that was not what the Mayor and I had agreed upon. The oil is now too close for comfort. We have an intense conversation while some 30 volunteers stand by and await orders. I explain to them that I gave my word to the public that we would carry out this mission at all cost and this is unacceptable at best. They are dead set against it and it is two to one as the committee goes. Seeing no other way I compromise with opening and closing the mouth according to the tides. The problem exists that contaminated boats may come through at any time and spread the oil past our booming operation. We now deploy our entire stock of boom both containment and absorbent leaving a path open for boat traffic.
As time travels on and July 15 comes, the well is declared under control and supposedly all of the oil is gone. Once again the Committee established meets and determines that within one week after the 15th the barge contract will be terminated and we will leave the bay open. I strongly oppose this measure because I know that the oil is still there and will be for some time; once again overruled.
Needless to say this may not seem brief but it actually is a brief synopsis of what happened in our tiny little part of the Gulf Coast. Some call what I did “Freelancing.” I propose that if it was not for these efforts, we would have been afforded not even a half-hearted attempt at protection. Although we never saw oil at the mouth of Weeks Bay it could have very easily occurred and I don’t regret for one minute any part that I was involved in and the stand that I took. Our mission: Protection of Life and Property.