F/V E.S.S. PURSUIT SULFUR MUSTARD RELEASE
7-26 June 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Unexploded Ordinance
(UXO)
ESS PURSUIT
Type: Commercial Fishing Vessel
Typical Catch: Surf Clams/Mahogany Clams
Boat Length: 145.5 ft
Boat Gross Tons: 183.0
Boat Net Tons: 124.0
Vessel Build Year: 2002
Ship Builder: Duckworth Steel Boats
Ypres
1
4
1
Sulfur Mustard – Health Effects
•Skin: redness and itching of the skin may occur 2 to 48 hours after
exposure and change eventually to yellow blistering of the skin.
•Eyes: irritation, pain, swelling, and tearing may occur within 3 to12 hours
of a mild to moderate exposure. A severe exposure may cause symptoms
within 1 to 2 hours and may include the symptoms of a mild or moderate
exposure plus light sensitivity, severe pain, or blindness (lasting up to 10
days).
•Respiratory tract: runny nose, sneezing, hoarseness, bloody nose, sinus
pain, shortness of breath, and cough within 12 to 24 hours of a mild
exposure and within 2 to 4 hours of a severe exposure.
•Digestive tract: abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea, and vomiting.
Monday, June 7, 2010
• Twin dredges collect clams from ocean bottom
• Dredges dump catch on sorting “table”
• Clams travel via conveyors to on-deck cages
• Cages/catch are stored on-deck
• Cages/catch continuously sprayed with
refrigerated seawater until offloaded
• 180 clam cages aboard vessel
• Each cage measures 3’ x 4’ x 5’
• Up to 3,000 lbs of clams per cage (+/- 10%)
• A typical catch could be upwards of 540,000 lbs
(unprocessed weight)
0000: Vessel arrived in New Bedford
0940: New Bedford
Police notify Sector
SE New England
What happened in those 10 hours:
• Vessel offloaded 500,000 pounds of
clams
• Two crewmembers hospitalized
• Vessel returned to sea
Commercial Marine Expo 2010
June 9-10, 2010
State Pier, New Bedford, MA
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Disposal Options
Three Options
At-Sea Disposal
• Early unanimous
State and local
support
• Scanning
• Decon
• Sampling
• Dump location
• Clam putrification
Landfill Disposal
• Scanning
• Decon
• Sampling
• Landfill acceptance
• Sandia foam
option
• Clam putrification
TSDF Disposal
• Scanning
• Reefer units
• Cost
The First Ten Days
6/8
6/9
6/10
6/11
6/12
6/13
6/14
6/15
6/16
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Clam Scan Disposal At
Needed Sea Planning
ID VACIS Disposal Plan
Possibility Presentation
Test Run
VACIS
Staging
Sample and
release vessel
6/7
Isolate
Catch
Staging
VESSEL
Evaluate and
Mitigate Threat
“Begin at the beginning and go
on till you come to the end:
then stop.”
-Alice in Wonderland
Decon
Vessel
Scan 180
Cages
Dispose at
TSDF
CLAMS
Staging
Loading of
Trucks
Fishing Vessel ESS Pursuit with Barge
ESS Pursuit, Clean Harbors Barge and the tug boat. This photo was taken
during the Clean Harbors lead decontamination operations.
EPA and START Entry on ESS Pursuit with Screening
Instruments - Clam Hopper and Sorter where munition was first
discovered.
EPA & START Entry on ESS Pursuit with Screening Instruments in galley
1st CST aboard the Fishing Vessel ESS Pursuit taking HAPSITE
air monitoring readings. All readings were Non-Detect (ND), and
the vessel was released to resume normal operations.
EPA's START Contractors decontaminate personal affects of crew members
Clam Removal & Disposal
By Thursday, June 10, 2010, a final plan for clam disposal was agreed upon by Unified
Command. The plan consisted of several operations:
•The catch would be removed from the cooler, scanned for munitions, and returned to the
cooler;
•The catch would then be unloaded from the cages and placed into lined containers which
would be shipped in refrigerated trailer units to a hazardous waste incinerator
•The empty clam cages would be decontaminated and stacked, awaiting final
screening/sampling
•The tractor trailers and cooler room would also be decontaminated (and sampled) following
the removal and disposal operations
•Clams needed to be kept near freezing during all operations (scanning, removal, and
disposal). Mustard Gas will off gas at 58°F.
•Assessment and screening of the work zones with AreaRaes and other instruments would be
undertaken during all operational phases.
Clam Scanning Operation
Preparing clam cages for the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) xray using their HCV (Cargo Vision) to determine if there were any other
ordinances or sulfur mustard canisters
US CBP's HCV unit in use, scanning clam cages for ordinances.
Clam Dumping Operation
As requested by Incident Command, MassDEP dispatched their Field Assessment and Support
Team (FAST) to provide equipment and personnel for 24-hour assessment & monitoring during
the clam dumping operation. AreaRae meters were deployed around the perimeter of SeaWatch
International, and monitored for Hydrogen Sulfide and Ammonia.
Unit used to tip clam cages over to load the flexi-bins (cubitainers). Unit is lag
bolted into the ground, and uses hydraulic pistons to tip the cage.
Clam disposal operation. Tipping clams into flexi-bins for off-site incineration.
Clam removal operation - clam cage being tipped so that USCG's
contractors can get them into the flexi-bins.
Cage Decon Operation
180 decontaminated clam cages, staged and randomized for
post-decontamination sampling.
EPA's START contractors perform wipe sampling on the 180
decontaminated clam cages. (Sampling the bottom of the cages, as
agreed upon by the Unified Command technical experts)
EPA's START Contractor - taking wipe samples
on clam cages (post-decontamination)
180 clam cages decontaminated and wrapped for air sampling.
1st CST begins to take air samples with their HAPSITE.
EPA's START contractors going through personnel decontamination (operated
by USCG's BOA Contractor) after taking wipe samples of the refrigerated
warehouse.
Trailer Decon Operation
A total of 486,897 pounds of clams were taken
from the site to Clean Harbors incineration
facilities in El Dorado, Arkansas and Deer Park,
Texas.
After the loads were processed, the trailers were
brought back to Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, where they were decontaminated and
sampled by USEPA and State CSTs.
Final Sampling Results
Wipe Samples/Screening confirmed that no detectable results were found for the:
•ESS Pursuit - completed 6/16/2010
•SeaWatch International cooler - 6/22/2010
•Clam cages - 6/26/2010
•Trailers (16 of 17)- as of 8/11/2010
The vessel, cooler, and cages were all released to their respective owners for re-use.
Goal: Minimize Consequences
• Human Health and Safety: 1 minor injury
• Environmental damage: none
• Economic impact: minimized (Sea Watch, New
Bedford)
• Public perception: Successful
• Stakeholder perception: ?
Issues for the RRT
• DoD as FOSC
• EPA as FOSC for Clams
• Emphasis on the importance of involving
locals
• Sampling protocol
• Need to address this membership at a more
tactical level
Unified Command & Involved Parties
QUESTIONS ?