The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation issued a situation report at 6:00 this evening stating that 3.7 million gallons of oil have been drawn down from the tanks at the Drift River Terminal. The tanks have also been ballasted with seawater as a precautionary measure.The aviation code for Mount ReDoubt has been downgraded to orange, but further activity is highly probable. Small earthquakes continue in the region, and such activity is a sign of endogenous lava dome growth.
Here are the highlights from the DEC situation report:
A tanker for Tesoro, the Seabulk Arctic, arrived on schedule yesterday evening and completed the transfer of oil from the two tanks in service at the DROT facility. Both operational tanks were ballasted with seawater from Cook Inlet this morning.
Preliminary figures:
• originally – 148,000 bbls. (6.2 million gallons)
•removed – 87,603 bbls. (3.7 million gallons)
•remaining – 60,397 bbls. (2.5 million gallons)
•added ballast seawater – 20,000 bbls. (840,000 gallons)
The tanker departed today at 3:48 PM. The Christy Lee crew boarded the Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. (CISPRI) response vessel Vigilance and departed at 4:10 PM after securing the platform.
CIPL crew currently at the DROT will secure and protect critical equipment for the facility shut down and then relocate to the Trading Bay facility by evening.
- photo of Mt. ReDoubt taken April 5 by Heather Bleick courtesy of AVO/USGS