Vashon Residents Turn Out For Oil Spill Answers

Judith Lawrence was far from being the only emotional Vashon Island resident Monday night.

A crowd filled a multi-purpose room at McMurray Middle School to hear from Coast Guard, Department of Ecology, and other experts about the damage done by last week's oil spill and the pace of the work done to clean up the mess.

"We feel helpless," yelled one islander from the back of the crowd during a Coast Guard presentation. "You won't let us help and we want to."

"What about 20,000 gallons or the next spill," added Lawrence. "I think we're chasing the goat after it gets out."

The estimated 1,000 gallons of oil that did get out got explained this way: Heavy fog kept the Coast Guard from flying. Local Coast Guard Commander Mark Dix tried to explain you can't contain oil you can't find or see.

Even helicopters outfitted with infrared cameras that detect differences in heat would not be able to see a difference in temperature between Puget Sound water and the growing sheen of oil. And by the time the fog lifted ten hours after the first report of oil near Vashon the first round had already been lost.

"A little after 8 in the morning on Maury Island the oil was already there," explained Ron Holcomb of the Oil Spill Response Team. "So unfortunately it was not possible to keep the oil from hitting the shorelines."

Officials with the Department of Ecology also explained that by the time they could attack it the oil slick was miles long and far too big to encircle and contain.

Even after several days of cleaning beaches and skimming thousands of gallons of oil and water the response teams are still fielding complaints that their work was not fast or thorough enough.

"Yeah it was really a slow response that we've got to work on," complained Vashon resident Deborah Wright.

But other locals like Jack Rowlands, who admittedly complained this past weekend about what he felt was a slow response to clean the beach at his home, says he's been impressed by the work of cleanup crews.

"Actually I feel pretty good about the response, " he said. "The beach in front of our house is much better. They've really done a great job of cleaning it up. In fact we were so pleased we made coffee and took it out (to the workers) the other day."

Experts with the Department of Health also told residents they should not fear long term damage to shellfish. But tests to determine the extent of contamination have not yet been completed.

Residents say they fear not only shellfish contamination but long-term damage to surviving fish and birds.

In a potentially related development a young harbor seal was found dead washed up on shore near Alki in West Seattle Monday night but experts cautioned jumping to conclusions.

This is the time of year when young seals in the Sound strike out on their own and often do not survive under the best of conditions.

Frustrated, but extremely motivated, Vashon and Maury residents are a talking now about organizing a volunteer network with the help of the Coast Guard so they can be actively involved in protecting their own water and their own beaches if and when this happens again.

Meanwhile, the beach cleanup along 21-miles of shoreline will continue indefinitely. The estimated cost of cleanup so far is $1.25 million.