NAWILIWILI — Earlier this week, officials across various divisions tested and validated the U.S. Coast Guard’s Geographic Response Strategy, a response plan for spills in marine environments at the state’s deep-water-commercial and small-boat harbors.
The team included the USCG, a private contractor, and state departments of transportation and land and natural resources.
“We conduct full-scale deployments of booms, stored at each of the harbors, at three or four each year on a rotational basis,” said David Jones, the USCG Incident Management Division chief for Sector Honolulu.
“Booms create a floating barrier that can keep pollutants like oil from spreading after a spill. It’s one of the most-effective ways to keep oil in place and out of other areas.”
At Nawiliwili Harbor, a small boat hooked onto 1,000-feet of boom and slowly spooled it out in the shadow of a cruise ship that docked several hours earlier.
State DOT Harbors Division Assistant District Manager Rob Cecconi said testing response time and capacity is important in order to contain a spill as quickly as possible.
“During my 10 years here, we’ve never had to put the boom out due to a serious spill,” Cecconi said. “It’s great for all the partners to do these tests because the 40-foot-deep basin at Nawiliwili is home to a wide variety of marine life, including turtles.”
Deeper into the harbor is the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor, which is the major recreational-boating facility operated by the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation.
DOBOR Acting Kaua‘i District Manager Jeremiah Aguilera was pleased to see Tuesday’s GRS validation not only include the full-scale boom, but an exclusionary boom test to protect the small-boat harbor and the mouth of the Hule‘ia River.
“The Hule‘ia River is a navigable waterway, and we’re entrusted with preserving its natural state and its beauty,” Aguilera said.
“Spilled oil or other substances could have significant negative impacts on both the marine and estuary environments of the river system. Upstream a short distance is the (Alakoko) ‘Menehune’ Fishpond. The GRS helps identify how we can best and effectively protect the Hule‘ia River and boating resources at Nawiliwili,” Aguilera said.
While environmental protection is the primary driver for GRS validation testing, the economic impact of a spill is not lost on the partner agencies.
Nawiliwili Harbor is the only port for visiting cruise ships on Kaua‘i, and is a busy commercial port with most goods for the island arriving by container-ship offloads at the harbor.
The small-boat harbor has 120 slips for small, recreational vessels and 13 offshore mooring sites, all of which could be affected by a spill.
“Our primary concern is always the environment and public safety,” Jones said.
“The actions we take in the first 24 to 48 hours are critical. If we can contain the spill at its source, it will obviously be better for the marine environment, while protecting the personal property of boaters using the small-boat harbor and hopefully maintaining commercial activity without unnecessary interruption.”
