By Leah Leach
Peninsula Daily News and news sources
QUILCENE — Penn Cove Shellfish has moved its harvesting crew to Quilcene Bay while it waits out a temporary shellfish harvesting closure off Whidbey Island because of diesel spilled from a sunken fishing boat.
Ian Jefferds, owner of Penn Cove Shellfish, based in Coupeville, told the Puget Sound Business Journal that harvesting crews would gather mussels from Quilcene Bay.
He said that he hoped from there to be able to serve some of the restaurants, retail stores and U.S. and international distributors the company has as customers.
The state Department of Health announced Tuesday it had temporarily closed Penn Cove, which is just east of Whidbey Island, to all commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting because of a diesel spill from the crab boat FV Deep Sea, which burned and sank Sunday.
The Health Department will test shellfish to make sure they are safe to eat before reopening the cove for harvesting.
Jerrod Davis, the department’s director of the Office of Shellfish and Water Protection, said the process could take a couple of weeks.
Penn Cove Shellfish voluntarily stopped harvesting before any diesel reached its shellfish, the state Department of Health said.
An oil sheen too thin for removal from the waters has reached the shore in places, and Ecology was monitoring shore areas for potential environmental effects, the Coast Guard said.
“We haven’t seen recoverable impacts to the shore and no observable effects on wildlife,” said Larry Altose, Ecology spokesman, on Wednesday.
“We haven’t seen any distressed mammals, fish or birds,” he said.
The fuel spill began Sunday after the anchored 128-foot fishing vessel Deep Sea sank.
About 3,100 gallons of diesel had been recovered by Wednesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. About 4,400 feet of boom had been deployed to contain the sheen.
A cracked vent that had been estimated to be leaking 2 gallons per minute was plugged by Tuesday evening and was no longer emitting fuel.
“There’s no leak now,” said Bryan Flint, state Department of Natural Resources spokesman, on Wednesday.
But “the potential for more diesel to leak is there.”
DNR has been in contact with the owner, Rory Westmoreland, since January, the agency said.
The vessel had been illegally anchored in Penn Cover on Whidbey Island on state-owned aquatic lands since December, DNR said.
Flint said Westmoreland has not worked out any deal with the agency.
“We will be seeking reimbursement from him for the cost of removal” of the boat, he said.
“It’s going to be an expensive proposition,” since the boat is lying on its side about 60 feet down, Flint said.
The agency will solicit bids for salvage, which will begin in a couple of weeks, Flint said.
Coast Guard pollution investigators will remain on scene until the containment and cleanup process is complete.
The Oil Spill Liability Fund will remain open until completion to pay for the response effort.
Jefferes estimated to the Business Journal that the spill would cost the company “a couple of weeks.”
Asked if he could estimate how much the closure could cost the company, he told the Journal, “I could, but then I’d cry.”
The company’s insurance, he added, does not cover pollution caused by another company.
The Coast Guard received a report at 11:45 p.m. Saturday that the boat was engulfed in flames.
Attempts to put out the fire were halted after water from the firefighting caused the Deep Sea to list.
The concern was that any additional water would cause it to sink, the Coast Guard said.
Meanwhile, the vessel fire resumed, and it sank Sunday.
DNR said the agency had contacted Westmoreland nearly two dozen times between January and May, with the most recent contact May 9.
On March 7, DNR sent him an “unauthorized use and occupancy” letter, a formal notice of trespass.
On March 13, DNR began billing him $83.44 per day, the agency said.
Flint said DNR had begun conversations with the state Attorney General’s Office to file charges of trespassing on state-owned aquatic lands.
“The boat’s on the bottom now, so that’s moot,” Flint said.
“We are now going to bid to get a contractor to remove the boat.”
________
Managing Editor/News Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3531 or at leah.leach@peninsuladailynews.com.
