SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/283268_healy31.html
Coast Guard skipper out over 2 diving deaths
'Loss of confidence' cited after disaster on icebreaker
Thursday, August 31, 2006
By MIKE BARBER
P-I REPORTER
The Coast Guard relieved the skipper of the Seattle-based icebreaker Healy of command
Wednesday as it continues an investigation into the deaths of two divers from the ship.
In replacing Capt. Douglas Russell, Vice Adm. Charles Wurster, who commands all
Coast Guard operations in the Pacific from San Francisco headquarters, said he had "a
loss of confidence in the officer's ability to command."
The Coast Guard flew Capt. Daniel Oliver, the Healy's commander before Russell, to
Alaska to take temporary command of the ship.
Wurster also ended early the Healy's annual Arctic West science mission. The ship is
slated to return to Elliott Bay on Monday. It had been due home in November.
Coast Guard officials said Russell's departure was based upon information surfacing from
investigations into the deaths Aug. 17 of Lt. Jessica Hill, 31, of St. Augustine, Fla., and
Petty Officer 2nd Class Steven Duque, 22, of Miami.
From Florida, Hill's family urged the Coast Guard to thoroughly investigate the deaths of
the two divers.
"In the interests of the safety and well-being of others who may follow in Jessica's
responsibilities and duties, we fervently hope that the Coast Guard will undertake a
thorough and candid investigation of the circumstances surrounding Jessica's death," the
family said in a statement.
Russell had been in charge of the ship since June, when he took command from Oliver.
Oliver commanded the Healy for two years and then became chief of the enforcement
branch within the Coast Guard's Pacific Area.
Ultimately, the buck stops with the ship's commander in any mishap. Coast Guard
regulations say: "It is emphasized that the safety of all diving operations is the
responsibility of the commanding officer."
Coast Guard diving procedures are based upon the Navy Diving Manual. Hill and Duque
had trained at the famed Navy diving school in Florida.
Coast Guard veterans say privately that questions the investigation will ask include how
many and what kind of crew members were monitoring the dive, and from where;
whether the Healy was idle and its engine and propellers disengaged at the time of the
dive; who serviced the divers' equipment and when was it last used; and whether all
stations, including the bridge and engine room, were manned as required by qualified
people.
The Coast Guard regulations restrict diving depth. They also require a preventive
maintenance system for all diving equipment and the commander to designate a diving
officer.
Hill and Duque were making a cold-water training dive off the Healy 500 miles
northwest of Barrow, Alaska, when they both died, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
Initially, Coast Guard officials reported that the two died while making a dive to inspect
the ship's rudder.
Russell, however, in a message on the Healy's Web site posted after Hill and Duque died,
called it a "tragic dive accident" that occurred during training.
Russell said the ship had stopped for a short break after completing the western leg of its
science mission and used the opportunity to conduct a dive operation. The week before,
the ship had bored holes through ice to place seismometers into the sea. After several
days of tracking, the ship's helicopters landed teams to retrieve the gear and data.
"The dive took place at the bow of the ship in a small area of open water. The dive
operation was going pretty much as planned when something happened under the water
while Lt. Hill and Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Duque were underwater together.
"When a problem was detected by the personnel supporting the dive operation, the divers
were retrieved from the water. Immediate medical attention was provided... ," Russell
wrote.
"Unfortunately, the efforts were unsuccessful and Lt. Hill and Petty Officer Duque were
declared deceased just after 8 p.m. local time," he wrote.
The ship then "pressed hard" for Barrow, where helicopters took the divers' bodies,
Russell said.
The divers' bodies were airlifted to the Seattle area, where autopsies were conducted last
week at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis. The results are to be released
when the investigation concludes.
The divers' bodies were returned last week to their families in Florida, where the families
had them cremated and the ashes committed to the sea.
In Barrow, the ship took on not only investigators, but also a chaplain and a stressmanagement team assembled in and flown from Seattle to help crew members.
TO LEARN MORE
See USCG diving regulations:
goto.seattlepi.com/r305
Read Capt. Douglas Russell's entry about the accident:
www.uscg.mil/pacarea/healy/
Click on deployments, then Arctic West Summer 2006 and find the Aug. 21, 2006, entry.
P-I reporter Mike Barber can be reached at 206-448-8018 or mikebarber@seattlepi.com.
? 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Coast Guard captain relieved of duty
By The Associated Press
(Published: August 30, 2006)
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/8139143p-8031517c.html
SEATTLE - The captain of the Coast Guard cutter Healy has been temporarily relieved
of duty following the deaths of two crew members during a dive in the Arctic Ocean
north of Barrow this month.
Capt. Douglas G. Russell will be replaced by Capt. Daniel K. Oliver, a previous
commanding officer of the Seattle-based Healy, as the investigation into the deaths
continues, the Coast Guard said in a news release Wednesday. Russell had been in
charge of the ship since June; before that, Oliver commanded the Healy for a twoyear tour of duty.
Vice Adm. Charles D. Wurster, commander of the Coast Guard in the Pacific, cited ?a
loss of confidence in the officer?s ability to command,? the statement said.
The Coast Guard has released few details about the Aug. 17 incident 500 miles north
of Barrow involving Lt. Jessica Hill, 31, of St. Augustine, Fla., and Petty Officer 2nd
Class Steven Duque, 22, of Miami.
Initially, the Coast Guard reported that the two died after they entered the water to
examine the ship?s rudder - a common procedure as the ship operates in Arctic ice but Petty Officer 1st Class Russ Tippets, a Coast Guard spokesman in Alameda,
Calif., said Wednesday they actually were just taking a cold-water training dive.
Tippets also said that investigators are looking into whether the ship had been idled
and pumps and propellers had been disengaged at the time of the accident, as
standard procedure would have dictated.
In a statement on the ship?s Web site two days afterward, Russell said the accident
occurred during a short break in operations:
?In taking advantage of our first real stop in ice in a month-plus of operations, we
capitalized on the opportunity to conduct a dive operation,? he wrote. ?The dive took
place at the bow of the ship in a small area of open water. The dive operation was
going pretty much as planned when something happened under the water while Lt.
Hill and (botswain?s mate) Duque were underwater together.
?When a problem was detected by the personnel supporting the dive operation, the
divers were retrieved from the water. Immediate medical attention was provided and
they were evacuated to the ship quickly where revival efforts continued for over an
hour through the superlative efforts of many.?
The 420-foot Healy is primarily used for scientific research in the Arctic under
sponsorship of the National Science Foundation. According to the ship?s Web site, in
the days before the accident crew members had been drilling holes through the ice
and hanging seismometers down into the sea.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/283210_boeingborder31.html
Boeing plugs its border security plan
Thursday, August 31, 2006
By JAMES GUNSALUS AND AMY THOMSON
BLOOMBERG NEWS
The Boeing Co. said it could have a network of sensors and radar installed along U.S.
borders in less than three years if the company wins a security contract coming up next
month that's worth about $2.5 billion.
The defense contractor's bid hinges on a network of more than 300 towers on the U.S.
borders with Mexico and Canada with devices from sensor, communication-equipment
and software makers, said Jerry McElwee, Boeing's program director for the so-called
Secure Border Initiative.
Boeing released details of its strategy ahead of a decision by the Department of
Homeland Security on the contract, which will help move beyond fences and border
patrol guards to secure more than 5,000 miles of borders. The contract may ultimately be
valued at as much as $8 billion as the United States moves to secure maritime borders as
well, Boeing said.
"This is not like a standard defense contract," McElwee told reporters in Washington,
stressing the scope and challenges of the project.
The contract is likely to be the second-largest program since the Homeland Security
Department was created in 2003. Accenture Ltd. won a $10 billion contract to help
collect and share information on foreigners entering the United States.
Boeing is competing with teams led by Raytheon Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Ericsson
AB and Northrop Grumman Corp. to help stem the flow of more than 1 million illegal
aliens that were arrested last year trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border and to stanch
smuggling and terrorist threats.
Boeing plans to use stationary and mobile towers as well as unattended ground sensors,
radar, infrared cameras and small unmanned aircraft to patrol the border. Most of the
items are currently available and need no funding for development, Wayne Esser, who is
leading Boeing's bid, said in an interview.
"Nothing like this has been done before," Esser said. "Not so much because of the
technology that will be used, but because of the political atmosphere, geography,
topography and large scope of the project."
James Albaugh, who heads Boeing's defense unit, personally gave the company's oral
presentation in Washington on Aug. 18. The defense business, which accounts for more
than half of Boeing's total sales, has contracts for a U.S. missile defense system and the
Pentagon's $164 billion Future Combat Systems, a series of computer-networked manned
and unmanned vehicles.
The team includes computer maker Unisys Corp., electronics makers DRS Technologies
Inc. and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., communications-equipment maker Lucent
Technologies Inc., computer-services company Perot Systems Corp. and Kollsman, a unit
of Elbit Systems Ltd. that makes thermo imaging cameras used to monitor Israel's
borders.
The system would tap intelligence gathered from authorities such as the Drug
Enforcement Agency to predict where sensors and monitors should be more active, Esser
said. Seismic ground sensors and technology used for oil exploration will be used to find
suspected tunneling sites, he said.
"Knowing that a busload of people with no luggage is headed for the U.S. border at
Sonora will help us with what to look for, where to intercept and keep guards and
civilians safe," he said.
? 1998-2006 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Columbia chinook runs far above early forecast
Thursday, August 31, 2006
BILL MONROE
The Oregonian
http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1156992921219640.xml&coll=7
The Columbia River's chinook salmon runs continue to surprise biologists in 2006.
Biologists said Wednesday that the upriver summer chinook run of 78,600 far outstripped its prediction of
49,000.
"It was a nice surprise," said John North, Columbia River fisheries program manager for the Oregon
Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It was nice, in fact, for both spring and summer chinook."
Upriver spring chinook, which at 132,200 this year were well above their prediction of 88,400, began as a
potential disaster. When the fish didn't appear on their regular schedule, biologists nearly declared the run
crashed. It was the latest count on record at Bonneville Dam.
The surge spilled over to summer chinook, which automatically are counted as summer fish beginning June
16. In the past, summer counts began June 1.
Last year's summer chinook run was 60,038, closer to its pre-season prediction of 62,400.
"Historically, runs have been very bad," North said. "They've only shot upward since 2001."
Bob Lohn, head of the Northwest region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries
service, issued a news release Wednesday crediting improved management techniques on Columbia River
dams for the run improvements.
For almost all of August, fishing for chinook has been uncharacteristically poor at the river's entrance, the
famed "Buoy 10" fishing season. Catches, however, have been extraordinarily good in the warm river water
below Portland. Some commercial nets caught fish approaching 60 pounds.
"They're on pace for a record August catch," North said.
Bill Monroe: 503-221-8231; billmonroe@news.oregonian.com
SALMON BILL STALLS IN SENATE
by Nathan Rushton, 8/31/2006
http://www.eurekareporter.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?ArticleID=14500
A Senate Bill aimed at providing financial relief from the state for salmon fishermen devastated by the near
closure of this year’s commercial salmon fishing season has stalled in the Assembly with only hours left in
the legislative session.
The bill, SB 1127, co-authored by state Senators Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) and Sam Aanestad (R-Grass
Valley), proposes to free up $26 million for the affected North Coast regions, including $5 million in grants,
$20 million in zero-interest revolving loansand provisions to increase the Small Business Expansion Fund by
$1 million.
Just what has caused the bill to freeze in the Assembly is unclear, but its authors are working with their
legislative counterparts in the final hours to get the bill passed to send to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Northern California and Oregon fishermen are expected to land only 12 percent of their normal salmon
harvest as a result of the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council’s severely restricted commercial
salmon season, which was prescribed to deal with record low return of salmon in the wake of years of low
water flows in the Klamath River that contributed to massive fish disease and die offs.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez declared earlier this month that a fisheries failure had
occurred because of drought conditions, which clears the way for the U.S. Congress to provide federal relief
funding, although appropriations committees in both the House of Representatives and Senate have yet to
hammer out the details of the final aid package.
Chesbro, who was unavailable for comment Wednesday, said recently that he and his staff have been
sharing ideas with Schwarzenegger, along with the congressional delegation, to find the most meaningful
response for the bill, which he said will be a critical part of the overall solution to bring relief to affected
fishing communities.
In a news release Tuesday afternoon, Schwarzenegger expressed concern and disappointment over the
Legislature’s failure to act on the bill.
With one more day left in the legislative session, Sen. Chesbro’s and Aanestad’s staffers were remaining
optimistic.
Bill Bird, communications director for Aanestad, said Schwarzenegger might have been premature in
throwing in the towel and that he is sticking to his “never say never” policy with regard to legislation.
“It is not dead yet,” Bird said. “The situation is very fluid and several amendments have been offered on the
bill.”
Bird said Aanestad’s office is not aware of what specific amendments have been proposed or what “horse
trading” is going on the Assembly side, but that Aanestad will continue pushing the bill from the Senate.
Bill Maile, a spokesperson for Gov. Schwarzenegger, said in an interview Wednesday that the governor’s
office is committed to getting the bill passed and will keep working on it “until legislative leaders bang the
gavel to close the session.”
“What is important is that salmon fishermen have access to relief as soon as possible,” Maile said.
Ecology Department hires clean up crew
for Edmonds oil spill
08/30/2006
Associated Press
The Washington Ecology Department says it's making a "full blown" response to
a report of an oil sheen on Puget Sound near Edmonds.
Spokesman Curt Hart says the agency has hired a helicopter and a clean-up
contractor to send skimmers and oil booms.
Hart says the first step is to determine the size of the spill and take samples to
determine what it is.
He says it appears to be about ten acres in size and it's dark in color. That
indicates a heavier fuel or oil, not a light fuel like gasoline, which would rapidly
evaporate.
The source of the spill is unknown. There are no reports of oil reaching a beach.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Jeff Pollinger says the sheen was reported at 6:30 this
morning by a pilot about a quarter mile from the ferry terminal in Edmonds. The
Coast Guard sent a helicopter from Port Angeles and two pollution investigators from
Seattle.
The state ferry operations center says there have been no spills this morning
from a ferry.
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/283138_sheen30ww.html
Source of oil spill likely won't be found
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
By ROBERT MCCLURE AND BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTERS
A mysterious oil spill that covered about 11 acres of Puget Sound near the Edmonds ferry
terminal was spotted by chance early today. And efforts to corral it before it dissipated
into Puget Sound were unsuccessful.
A search for the source is likely to prove difficult because investigators didn't arrive until
it was too late to get samples of the oil that could be chemically fingerprinted.
Although the oil dissipated, "Any amount of oil is toxic to the environment. I wouldn't
want to minimize that," said Curt Hart, a spokesman for the state Department of Ecology.
"This is a spill that should have been prevented."
The mystery spill was discovered when a Washington State Patrol airplane pilot on
routine patrol saw it about a quarter mile west of the ferry terminal. The patrol relayed
the report at 6:40 a.m., said Jeff Pollinger, a Coast Guard petty officer.
At the time of the first report, the spill was estimated to be about 1,000 feet by 500 feet,
said State Patrol Trooper Kirk Rudeen. That's a little more than 11 acres.
Patches of red algae in the spill area complicated the task of estimating the spill's size.
Officials offered no immediate estimate of the number of gallons spilled.
Ecology and the Coast Guard sent helicopters up to check out the size of the spill about
8:30 a.m., after television news helicopters had photographed it, Hart said, and notified
oil-spill cleanup contractors to start preparing to contain it.
By the time an Ecology oil-spill responder got a boat out to the oil spill at about 9:30
a.m., it had spread out into an unrecoverable sheen on top of the water that couldn't be
collected for chemical fingerprinting.
"We got out there just as soon as we could," Hart said.
At that point, efforts to corral the oil were called off.
Although it will be difficult to identify the spiller, "Our educated guess is that it came
from a vessel," Hart said. "We're really looking hard at what vessels were in the area."