by Eric Stiles
Vice President for Conservation & Stewardship

Athos I oil tanker near Mantua Creek, NJ.

On November 26, 2004, the Athos I, a 750’ long single bottom hull oil tanker, reported a breach in its hull near Mantua, New Jersey.  While the investigation is ongoing, a large pipe is reported to have caused the tear in the hull.  Nearly 300,000 gallons of crude oil washed into the Delaware River, and was subsequently found from Artificial Island, Salem County to north of Petty’s Island, Camden County.  This spill not only directly killed and/or harmed wildlife directly, but will continue to impact this critical estuary for decades. 

NJ Audubon Society participated directly in the oil response efforts in several important and meaningful ways.  We were able to contact our legislators directly when key locations such as Mannington Meadows and Supawna National Wildlife Refuge were not being adequately protected.  Many of our members volunteered as “expert avian monitors” for state and federal wildlife agencies to observe tributaries throughout the watershed.  Our conservation department sent staff biologists to monitor nesting bald eagles, and I personally spent a day with the U.S. Coast Guard Assessment Team patrolling the Delaware River from Mantua Creek to the Commodore Berry Bridge.  Our attorneys from participated in the Unified Command Center, working to protect critical wildlife within the impacted spill zone.  Our members also donated materials desperately needed by Tri-state to clean and rehabilitate oiled birds.

Congressman Frank LoBiondo, who has played a championship role in protecting New Jersey’s wildlife, invited me to testify on behalf of New Jersey Audubon Society before the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation on January 18, 2005.  Six experts were invited to speak before the subcommittee on the Athos I single-hull tanker oil spill.  Below is the testimony I presented on January 18, 2005, along with photos of the oil deposits on our Twin Islands Sanctuary in the Delaware River.

United State House of Representatives
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee
507 Ford House Office Building
Washington, D.C.  20515

RE: Testimony of Eric Stiles, Vice President for Conservation, New Jersey Audubon Society on the Athos I Delaware River, Oil Spill    

Dear Honorable Representatives:

I am speaking on behalf of New Jersey Audubon Society and its 22,000 members in regards to the Athos I Delaware River oil spill.  I would like to thank Congressman LoBiondo for the opportunity to speak on such an important matter to our membership, state and nation.  Having worked as a state endangered species biologist for nearly a decade, I have had direct experience with oil spill response.  When I first watched the images of the Athos I spill on the evening news, my immediate visceral response was if I had lost a good friend.  Having worked on the recovery of Bald Eagles and wildlife on that stretch of the Delaware River and Bay for a decade, I personally knew what was at stake and how much could be lost through a single tragedy.

New Jersey Audubon Society and its membership were impacted at two levels.  First, since NJ Audubon has worked to protect wildlife since 1897, this catastrophe will reverberate for decades through long-lived toxins in our soils, water and benthic communities.  Second, we own two islands in the Delaware River, just downstream from the spill.  New Jersey Audubon Society received Monds and Chester Islands in 1997 because of their importance to migrant and breeding birds.  Our nation’s symbol- the federally threatened Bald Eagle has built a nest on Monds Island, perched as the crowning jewel atop a 110’ tall, century-old Eastern Cottonwood tree.  The island also hosts nesting Great Blue Herons, songbirds and provides critical migration habitat for spring and fall songbirds.

The nesting eagles are emblematic of the success of wildlife conservation and its fragility in New Jersey.  Monds Island lies amidst a matrix of the nation’s oldest industrial activity.  Surrounded by river dredge projects, towering suspension bridges, international airports and oil refineries, this pair of eagles symbolize the resiliency of nature.  However, like a child – it takes a village to raise an eaglet.  Bald eagles are incredibly sensitive to disturbance.  This pair’s success is a tribute to a marriage between a dedicated community resident – Elmer Clegg, the state endangered species program, a corporation and a non-profit conservation agency.  The state of New Jersey worked tirelessly to raise and release 60 bald eagles in NJ from 1983-1990 to restore the state’s dwindling population.  The Monds’ Bald Eagle pair, which included one of the state released birds, first arrived in the area in 1992.  Through no fault of their own, the eagle pair could not produce viable eggs – primarily due to PCB contamination.

Every year the pair would fail to produce young and relocate, and every year Elmer Clegg and the state endangered species program would devote thousands of hours to monitor the pair and work with new landowners to minimize disturbance.  Finally in 1996, one courageous landowner – DuPont – forged a partnership with the state and a conservation group.  DuPont donated Monds and Chester Islands to NJ Audubon Society as a wildlife preserve.  The state’s endangered species program agreed to take the lead in monitoring and protecting the Bald Eagles, and each year bring in a foster eaglet for the pair to raise.  Elmer Clegg continues to donate thousands of hours, as the pair’s ambassador and guardian. 

Nearly two decades of work, involving tens of thousands of hours and a ground-breaking community, corporate, public and non-profit partnership almost came to a screeching halt by a single tragic event – the Athos I oil spill.  The story of the nesting eagles at Monds Island can be told time and again.  Fish and wildlife conservation has been a century long investment in New Jersey.  The lower Delaware River and upper Delaware Bay are hosts to huge concentrations of shorebirds, waterfowl, fish, hawks, eagles and other wildlife.  Fish and wildlife are a fundamental quality of life for many New Jersey residents.  In 2001, 1.64 million residents and 688,000 visitors watched wildlife in NJ, spending $1.24 billion.  Similarly in New Jersey, over 900,000 people participated in fishing and hunting spending another billion dollars. 

Dime on right for size comparison.

The Delaware River and Bay, like most estuaries, supports mixed use.  From commerce to recreation, this rich complex is important to all.  Yet, only one of these activities through a single mistake has the potential to upstage and threaten all other interests – transport of oil.  While oil is an important economic sector for the region, this importance must be tempered through and by protection of other public trust resources – fish, wildlife and public drinking water.

The famous American historian Arthur Schlesinger was right – history has an eerie way of repeating itself.  The Delaware River Estuary has been home to many an oil spill.  If I were a betting man, my money is on future occurrences.  Yet this gloomy prediction should not cause despair.  The Athos I spill and recovery efforts provide a real opportunity to make fundamental improvements in several areas – reduction of oil spill occurrences, increasing ceilings for responsible party liability, improvement of spill response and establishment of an Oil Spill Recovery Institute for the Delaware River and Bay.

Reforms must also incorporate successes. 

1. New Jersey’s congressional delegates, especially Congressman LoBiondo, Congressman Andrews and Senators Corzine and Lautenberg, played important leadership roles in helping protect our water and wildlife.
2. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and US Fish and Wildlife Service biologists deserve praise for working with non-profits and volunteers to monitor and respond to wildlife impacts.
3. Tri-state Bird Rescue and Research, Inc., one of the world’s leading non-profit organizations for cleaning oiled birds, deserves great praise for its heroic efforts.
4. The U.S. Coast Guard and NOAA were very accommodating, affording NJ Audubon Society as an affected party, access to critical information on its lands.

NJ Audubon Society participated directly in the oil response efforts in several important and meaningful ways.  We were able to contact our legislators directly when key locations such as Mannington Meadows and Supawna National Wildlife Refuge were not being adequately protected.  Many of our members volunteered as “expert avian monitors” for state and federal wildlife agencies to observe tributaries throughout the watershed.  Our conservation department sent staff biologists to monitor nesting bald eagles, and I personally spent a day with the U.S. Coast Guard Assessment Team patrolling the Delaware River from Mantua Creek to the Commodore Berry Bridge.  Our attorneys participated in the Unified Command Center, working to protect critical wildlife within the impacted spill zone.  Our members also donated materials desperately needed by Tri-state to clean and rehabilitate oiled birds.

Through my prior experience with oil spill response and our intimate involvement with the Athos I, I would like to direct the Committee members’ attention to four areas of needed improvement:

1. Reduce the likelihood of further spills.

a. The shipping channel should be regularly monitored using sonar, magnetometer and wire surveys to detect potential hazards.  Sonar only affords insights into the depth of the channel.  A magnetometer, if used, may have detected the metal piping which allegedly ruptured the Athos I’s hull.  Also, through dragging of wire apparatus along the shipping channel, we will also be alerted to other hard structures and debris which could puncture ship hulls.

b. The minimum clearance requirement between a ship’s berth and the channel depth should be increased.  Allegedly, the Athos I hull rupture occurred at low tide.  Ships, especially of the single hull design, should only be under operation at mid to high tides to decrease the likelihood of rupture or grounding.

c. We should look to phase out single hull craft before 2015 and incentives should be offered for companies using double hull craft.  Responsible companies using the double hull design should receive financial rewards for being good corporate citizens.  Similarly, a port fee should be instituted for operators of single hull craft.  This fee should be used as a dedicated funding source to better prepare the Estuary for future oil response efforts and acquisition and management of sensitive fish and wildlife lands.

2. Increase the liability ceiling for damage claims.

Given the importance of the Delaware River and Bay to drinking water, fish and wildlife, a $45 million liability limit is grossly insufficient.  We would ask that this ceiling be raised to $150 million.

3. Improve the efficacy of oil response efforts.

a. The natural resource information guiding US Coast Guard response efforts is grossly outdated.  Even though state and federal wildlife agencies knew of the importance of sites such as Monds Island (nesting bald eagles) and Mannington Meadows (fish, waterfowl and bald eagles), the Coast Guard did not have this information.  Since wildlife distributions are so dynamic, this mapping must be updated annually.  Money must be given to state and federal agencies to provide this information to the US Coast Guard and NOAA.

b. Pilings for booms should be placed at the entrance of every tributary and drinking water source along the lower Delaware River and Delaware Bay.  These pilings are important anchor points for booms.  Having these in place will allow response teams to place booms onsite in a more time effective manner.

c. In the Athos spill, the booms were constantly being erected behind the oil slick’s leading edge.  They were being erected on tributaries after the oil had already infiltrated these waterways.  In the future, booms should be placed on tributaries and other sensitive locations (e.g. drinking water intakes) before the oil slicks are onsite.

4. Develop and pass legislation establishing an Oil Spill Recovery Institute for the Delaware River and Bay similar to the Title V. Prince William Provisions under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

a. This visionary legislation established a body of federal, state, academic and conservation agency experts with backgrounds in commerce, fisheries, wildlife, public health and safety and education.

b. This body would work to better protect the natural resources and public health and safety of the Delaware River and Bay while still accommodating a functioning port.

c. This body would cut through inter-agency red-tape by establishing a council with a clear charge and mandate.

The only remaining concern we have is the unknown.  From assessments conducted thus far, it is unclear the extent to which oil has settled on the benthic communities of the Delaware River and Bay.  We would ask that the Committee play a leadership role in investigating these impacts and ensuring proper clean-up, mitigation and restoration.  We would also ask the Committee to work with federal appropriators to earmark sufficient funds for purchase and management of critical fish and wildlife sites on the Estuary to help better protect and enhance these important locations.

I appreciate the ability to comment on these important matters.  NJ Audubon Society looks forward to supporting legislation and appropriations to realize these reforms.