Coast Guard seeks culprit behind oil spill

SEATTLE — Subpoenas have been issued in the search for the culprit behind a $1 million Puget Sound oil spill of at least 1,000 gallons.

Crews worked Monday to wrap up beach cleanup.

The Coast Guard has issued subpoenas to individuals, vessels and one facility concerning the heavy-grade fuel oil spill, said Larry Altose, a spokesman for the spill response center that includes his state Department of Ecology and the Coast Guard.

Spill investigators also were trying to determine exactly how much oil was spilled early Thursday between Tacoma and the south end of Vashon Island. Contaminated beaches extend from the Key Peninsula and Tacoma to parts of Vashon and Maury islands.

Effects on birds and other wildlife appeared minimal so far.

Subpoenas are routinely used by investigators to obtain the samples and interviews they need to track down the responsible party, Altose said Monday.

He said the Coast Guard refused to discuss how many oil samples were being tested at labs in Washington and elsewhere.

Some of the vessels being investigated were en route to Alaska and their subpoenas will be presented by Coast Guard officers when they arrive, Altose said.

Altose called 1,000 gallons a “very rough preliminary estimate” based on the oil recovered so far.

Skimmers have recovered 5,919 gallons of oily water, which probably contains a few hundred gallons of oil. There’s also oil in the debris that has been recovered from affected beaches, including seaweed and driftwood, adding up to about 6.2 tons as of late Sunday.

The third piece of the puzzle comes from the booms full of oil that will also be analyzed.

Some oil will dissipate into the environment. “Of course, that’s not a satisfactory outcome, but that’s a reality of what happens in a spill,” Altose said.

State penalties can reach as high as $100,000 for each day of contamination and the federal government could seek to recover triple the cost of the cleanup, he said.

The cost of the response now tops $1 million. Costs have been covered 90 percent by the Coast Guard and 10 percent by the state. The Coast Guard has requested $1 million from the Oil Liability Trust Fund, financed by a nickel-a-barrel tax on the oil industry.

On Monday, 83 people were still working on cleanup, mainly removal of oil-laden debris from beaches and raking of oil-fouled sand above the tide line. Another 35 people were at the command post.

Few contaminated birds and wild-life have been found.

“It could mean that the animals have made out well,” Altose said earlier. “It could also mean there are chronic toxic effects that the animals are suffering that won’t be noticeable.”

One “lightly oiled” seal pup found alive on a beach at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma died last weekend after being taken to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society’s wildlife center in Lynnwood. There was no immediate word on whether oil played a role in the death; some recently weaned seal pups commonly die this time of year, wildlife officials said.

The remains of two other dead seal pups, found with no apparent oil, were being examined.