TRUCK DELIVERING DIESEL FUEL SPILLS 590 GALLONS AT ALYESKA RESORT

November Spill One of the Largest Ever in Valley

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A fuel transfer accident at Alyeska Resort in November caused one of Girdwood's largest oil spills when an overfilled tank spewed nearly 600 gallons of diesel onto a gravel pad near a popular ski trail and above a small creek.

The spill has been mostly cleaned up, according to a state report, but a wooded hill near the site descends into a small creek and an oil sheen could be seen on the water weeks after the spill was reported. The creek, Moose Meadow Creek, flows into Glacier Creek.

Initial containment snow and surface soil removal showing surface water diversion ditch. (Photos courtesy of ADEC)

"They're not done with [the cleanup] yet," said Mike Evans, an environmental program specialist for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

The estimated 590-gallon spill occurred when an Inlet Energy delivery truck transferred fuel into a 1,500-gallon tank on an Alyeska Resort storage lot near its hotel, according to a DEC report. The tank holds diesel fuel for the Resort's back-up generator system.

"The driver didn't realize it, or realized it and didn't say anything," Evans said.

Two days after the botched transfer, Alyeska employees noticed a sheen of oil on the ground and "tracked it to water that feeds to nearby Moose Meadow Creek," DEC's report stated.

Lower swale area and the eastern excavation edge.

When personnel from Inlet Energy visited the site they heard "an inconsistent story" from that told by the company's delivery driver, according to the report.

Because Alyeska Resort had initially taken responsibility for the spill, the report stated, Inlet Energy gave response equipment to the Resort and advice “on the importance of mitigating the fuel’s contact with the nearby water bodies, and … reporting obligations.”

Workers with Alyeska Resort began a cleanup operation by removing five feet of snow in a 30 by 30 foot area around the tank, then melting the contaminated snow in an "oil-water separator", the report stated.

Alyeska Resort snowmaking pool with absorbent booms installed.

On Nov. 29, Inlet Energy took over responsibility for cleanup. 

Though it was reported to the DEC, the community was not informed of the spill by the DEC, Alyeska or Inlet Energy, according to Kyle Kelly, Girdwood's service area manager for the Municipality.

Kelly said Thursday there were trucks driving through Girdwood a few months ago hauling sacks of fill and thought "I bet this has to do with the Resort." Kelly also said he noticed Inlet Energy had a new delivery driver when the company came to fill a tank next to the fire station and that it uses a dipstick to ascertain the amount of oil in the tank prior to filling.

DEC's report said Inlet Energy's delivery driver "did not indicate an overfill".

Western excavation wall. beside the Crew Building, showing water pumping setup.

"We're still not 100 percent sure why they did not recognize that they had overfilled [the tank], except we'd had a bunch of snow ... and the tank was surrounded in ice and snow," Evans said.

A week-long cold snap had followed a winter storm in November, but Evans said snowy and icy conditions would not have caused the oil to disperse and it would have remained confined to the gravel pad.

"Even if it's frozen ground, oil travels through it pretty readily," he said.

He called Inlet Energy's clean up effort, which has occurred over the past several months, "extensive" and he said that the company has taken full responsibility. 

Although the company's contractor, Aleut Remediation, excavated close to 1,000 cubic yards of gravel from the area, "residual" oil remains, Evans said. Absorbent booms were not placed in the creek until nine days after the spill, according to the DEC report.

Meanwhile, spring breakup could reveal contamination in a strip of forest below the pad, Evans said.

"It has a lot of exposed roots ... not a place you want to be digging, for sure," he said.

He said there is still a fuel odor and Aleut Remediation had placed booms and absorbent pads along the creek. On Sunday, however, boom and other spill prevention material were not observed along the slough and Evans later said some were covered in ice. 

"Overall, the inspections primarily identified sheen in the drainage outfall location in Moose Meadow Creek, and signs of contamination within the creek increased after snow-melting events due to temperature changes," DEC's report said. 

The spill area is adjacent to an Alyeska employee housing complex and a church, Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows. The slough is a popular cross-country trailhead with branching intersections. 

Evans said a drainage swale was impacted but not excavated since it lies beneath a strip of spruce and hemlock and would have required "destroying the embankment and habitat above the creek."

Fuel line sump pump excavation area.

"In our judgment [removing trees and soil] would do more harm than good," Evans said. 

The contaminated area is also downstream and several hundred yards from Girdwood's water plant. While the well is upstream from a potential plume of contaminated water and soils, the valley's shallow aquifer is composed of porous glacial till.

Jeanette Alas, a biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, inspected the site in December, concerned about an oil sheen on the surface of Moose Meadow Creek, and issued a permit allowing booms to be installed.

The creek is home to juvenile coho salmon, Alas said, but the fish may be in deeper water and the diesel "tends to stay on the surface". 

It is unclear how much the clean up will cost. Inlet Energy, contacted Friday, did not respond in time for publication. Representatives for Alyeska Resort, owned by Canadian hotelier Pomeroy Lodging, also did not respond with comment. 

The spill is one of the largest ever recorded in the valley, according to Evans and DEC records.