Transcending time

On Friday, the Columbia was poisoned. Fuel oil overflowed the tanks and deck of the cargo ship Transcenden Time into the river. About a hundred gallons of Texas Tea was added at the confluence of the Willamette River. While that might sound like a lot, let's put a little perspective on the matter. We're talking about little more than 13 cubic feet of material, which would likely fit within your home refrigerator. While the river doesn't always see oil added in this kind of concentration, I'm sure every rain fall washes far more oil from our roads into the water. But this isn't the first spill the Columbia has seen:

• 1978 - Toyota Maru - 30,000 gallons
• 1983 - Blue Magpie - 80,000 gallons
• 1984 - Mobil Oil - 200,000 gallons
• 1991 - Tai Chung - 11,000 gallons
• 1993 - Southern Pacific - 5,000 gallons
• 1993 - MV Central - 3,000 gallons
• 1994 - An Ping 6 - 3,000 gallons
• 2009 - Black Hawk - 150 gallons
• 2011 - Davy Crockett - currently unknown but 1,450 gallons have been cleaned up.

By comparison, the Exxon Valdez dumped about 25,000,000 gallons into Prince William Sound and last year's BP oil spill resulted in 206,000,000 gallons of oil being added to the Gulf of Mexico.

Oregon's DEQ considers any spill over 42 gallons to be a major issue. Site response, containment, cleanup isn't free, and those responsible for the mess foot the cleaning bill. About $300,000 in fines where levied against the owners of the An Ping 6.

Such spills may be caused by damage to vessels, the pumping out of contaminated bilge water, and the failure of equipment designed to prevent this sort of dirtying. These spills are made up of hydrocarbons that might be in the form of crude oil, mechanical lubricants, or diesel fuel. Oil slicks can cause health issues for all living things, often resulting in the failure of internal organs and hypothermia. While birds and fish make up the vast numbers of casualties, mammals who come into contact with the fouled waters are just as vulnerable. Submarine plant life also suffers due to the oil cutting off supplies of sun light. The oils can stick to beaches and take months to years to clean up.

While the up front effects of such spills can be tragic, geologically speaking, there Earth, and the Columbia Basin, have been through much worse. These are things that can be recovered from, the Columbia will heal and live to flow another day.

Happy Hunting,
Brett