A state effort is underway to evaluate risks associated with transporting oil on the Columbia River.
The number of vessels carrying oil on the river currently is minimal. But the state has learned from a dramatic spike in crude-by-rail — zero gallons in 2011 to more than 700 million in 2013 — that it’s best to be prepared.
“A lot has been influenced by the significant change in the energy transportation picture,” said Scott Ferguson, project manager with the Department of Ecology.
The state’s ecology department recently hired Det Norske Vertias Inc. to work with them to create a safety risk assessment for potential spills on the Columbia River.
“The Columbia River has not been looked at from a safety perspective as a whole body of work,” Ferguson said in a statement. “With all the changes in the type and mode of oil transportation that travel through the area, we need to perform a systemwide review of the river from the Oregon-Washington border to Idaho.”
The decision also stems from legislation passed in 2015, as part of a measure asking for a report to study both oil transport on the Columbia River and the Puget Sound. The study is also expected to examine whether tug escorts would improve the safety when transporting oil on the waterways.
Ferguson said more than 1,000 vessels use the Columbia River annually, and they carry cargo ranging from timber to grain.
The state’s Department of Ecology will consult with Indian tribes, public ports, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Washington and Oregon Pilots Association Harbor Safety committees.
The Columbia River risk assessment report is scheduled to be finished in 2018. A preliminary draft is expected to be presented to the state Legislature in 2017.
In 2015, the number of tank ships carrying oil headed for Washington ports was 29, according to Ferguson. The ships were carrying a variety of oil, not only crude, which is the type of oil that has generated headlines for being explosive.
“It’s not a huge amount, but of course things could change depending on what the future brings,” Ferguson said.
Late last year, Congress voted to end a four-decade-old export ban on oil.
