Tank Barge ARGO: A Case Study on the Employment of NCP Special Teams International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings

On October 20, 1937 the Tank Barge ARGO sank during a fall storm on western Lake Erie. The barge was reported to be carrying 100,000 gallons of crude oil and 100,000 gallons of benzol and was thought to have sunk in Canadian waters. The ARGO was identified as a potential polluting wreck in NOAA’s Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threat (RULET) project and ranked as the greatest legacy underwater environmental threat on the Great Lakes. However, the exact location, condition, and disposition of the sunken barge and its cargo were a mystery for over 78 years. On August 28, 2015 the Tank Barge ARGO was discovered by the Cleveland Underwater Explorers in U.S. waters, beginning a three month response by the U.S. Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator to mitigate the substantial threat to the environment and public health posed by the ARGO’s cargo. Rife with challenges, the response included complex dive operations, hot tapping, chemical lightering and storage, environmental protection and monitoring and severe logistical constraints, all of which required an extensive incident management organization and utilized almost every “special team” under the National Contingency Plan. This case study summarizes the response to the Tank Barge ARGO and details how “special teams” were utilized by the Federal On-Scene Coordinator to safely and effectively respond to the environmental threat. Specifically, the capabilities of the National Strike Force, District Response Group and District Response Advisory Team, and Scientific Support Coordinator during this response are highlighted and offered as a best practice for other oil and hazardous substance responses.

1937年10月20日，油驳船阿尔戈号（Tank Barge ARGO）在伊利湖西部的秋季风暴中沉没。据报道，该驳船当时装载有10万加仑原油与10万加仑苯（benzol），外界推测其沉没于加拿大水域。阿尔戈号被美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration，NOAA）的水下遗留环境威胁整治项目（Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threat，简称RULET）列为潜在污染沉船，并被评为五大湖地区最严重的水下遗留环境威胁。但在长达78年的时间里，这艘沉没驳船的精确位置、损毁状态及其所载货物的下落始终成谜。2015年8月28日，克利夫兰水下探险家团队（Cleveland Underwater Explorers）在美国水域发现了阿尔戈号油驳船，由此启动了美国海岸警卫队联邦现场协调官（Federal On-Scene Coordinator）为期三个月的应急处置工作，以减轻该船所载货物对环境与公众健康构成的重大威胁。本次处置面临诸多复杂挑战，包括高难度潜水作业、热开孔作业（hot tapping）、化学品驳运与存储、环境保护与监测，以及严峻的后勤制约。所有处置环节均需搭建完备的事件管理体系，并动用了《国家应急计划》（National Contingency Plan）框架下几乎所有的"专项小组"。本案例研究梳理了针对阿尔戈号油驳船的应急处置全流程，详细阐述了联邦现场协调官如何统筹调动各类专项小组，安全且高效地应对此次环境威胁。具体而言，本次处置中美国国家打击队（National Strike Force）、辖区响应小组（District Response Group）、辖区响应咨询团队（District Response Advisory Team）以及科学支持协调员（Scientific Support Coordinator）所发挥的核心职能被重点呈现，并可为其他石油与危险物质应急处置提供最佳实践参考。