Bay Soundings l Port Plans for Heavy Weather

Port Plans for Heavy Weather

By Victoria Parsons

In a worst-case scenario, even the best-laid plan won’t make much difference.

“If we get an 18-foot storm surge, there isn’t much we can do,” says Larry Bagley, operations superintendent for the Tampa Port Authority and a member of the Tampa Bay Port Heavy Weather Advisory Group. “We’ll batten down the hatches and evacuate because the safety of our personnel is always the first priority.”

Photo courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Hurricane Katrina pushed enormous ships like this barge ashore when it struck the Port of New Orleans. Officials here are working to avoid similar disasters when heavy weather strikes Tampa Bay.

But since the worst-case scenario involves multiple elements occurring simultaneously, the chances are great that a storm weaker than Category 5 will strike south of the bay or that it will make landfall at low tide – and then the carefully crafted plans may make an enormous difference in reducing spills of hazardous materials and in re-opening the port to traffic.

Site- and material-specific plans are critical. CF Industries, for instance, maintains a very low inventory at its Hooker’s Point facility. “During hurricane season we only store what we can load on a ship, so we can evacuate if necessary,” notes Jack Mulqueen, operations manager. Inventories of anhydrous ammonia, used to manufacture fertilizer, also are maintained at a minimum level so they can quickly be moved inland if a storm approaches.

The exact opposite is true for Citgo’s petroleum farm located along Sparkman Channel. “We need to have those tanks as full as possible to keep them from floating,” said Dave Ammon, assistant manager.

“Petroleum tanks are kind of like Coke cans,” Bagley adds. “They’re much harder to smash – or knock over – when they’re full than when they’re empty.”

Advisory Group Works as a Team

Created in 1997 after Tropical Storm Josephine brushed the region and highlighted deficiencies in the port’s procedures for hurricanes, the heavy weather group is charged with updating and expanding plans to close – and then re-open – the three ports on Tampa Bay and the 40-mile long shipping channel that connects them to the rest of the world.

2006 Forecast Bad, But Not Another 2005

Forecasts for the 2006 hurricane season call for another above-average year with nearly twice the number of storms seen in an average season – but not another record-setting 2005.

Colorado State University researchers Philip Klotzbach and William Gray are predicting 17 named storms for 2006, including nine hurricanes and five major hurricanes. They calculate the probability of a hurricane making landfall this season on the East Coast, including the Florida peninsula, at 64%.

That compares to a record-breaking 2005 with 27 named storms, 15 hurricanes and seven major storms. In an average year, however, there are 9.6 tropical storms, 5.9 hurricanes and 2.3 major storms.

Hurricane Katrina, which beached or sank more than 500 barges at the Port of New Orleans, made it all too clear what a difference good planning can make, port officials say. As landside buildings were swept away in the storm – or buried under barges and tugboats that broke loose from their moorings — well-prepared companies were able to bring in supplies and housing for workers far in advance of government response. “What we learned will help us be stronger and better prepared,” Bagley said.

“If we don’t spend the time trying to plan for that kind of disaster, we’re totally doomed for failure,” adds Steve Fidler, director of operations for the Tampa Port Authority. “Just thinking through the plan – knowing what kind of problems we could face, who to talk to, who has what resources – puts us way ahead.”

Working as a group also allows the industry to share ideas and concerns, he said. “Sometimes somebody will say something and somebody else will say ‘Wow, why didn’t we think of that?’ We all can learn from each other.”

As it often seems to happen, the Tampa Bay group may be setting a new standard for the rest of the country. “I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else and I’m not sure it even exists at other locations,” notes Lt. Dwayne Meekins, chief of waterways management and U.S. Coast Guard representative on the advisory group.

The final authority, however, still rests with the Captain of the Port. “The group makes recommendations, not decisions,” Meekins said.

Loose Boats Concern Port

One issue that still concerns port officials is proposed legislation that would allow marina owners to require evacuation of boats in advance of hurricane-force winds – putting inexperienced boat operators in danger and creating the potential for large-scale damage because there isn’t anywhere safe for them to go.

“If the boats are nesting in a marina, they may not be safe, but at least we can identify the problem and work to mitigate it,” Fidler said. “If we have all these people in small boats in places that aren’t safe, we just complicate the problem.”

Even large ships will be required to leave the port when hurricane warnings are in place, he adds. “If they’re stuck here because their engines aren’t working, we’ll hope for the best but we want to get them out if at all possible.”

Some captains prefer to run from heavy weather but others would rather stay in port, he adds. “The problem is the Gulf of Mexico is too small to count on eluding a storm. You can get to one corner and it might not be as bad as another, but nowhere in the Gulf of Mexico is safe.”

Assessing the Damage:

NOAA Completes Data Collection on 2004 Alafia River Spill

At a presentation to the Agency on Bay Management on March 9, Dan Hahn, natural resource injury assessment coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) presented data detailing damages from a Sept 4-5, 2004 spill that sent 65 million gallons of acidic wastewater from a Riverview phosphate plant hurtling into a creek leading to Hillsborough Bay.

The spill at Cargill Crop Nutrition (now the Mosaic Company) occurred when high winds and heavy rains from Hurricane Frances caused a breach in the gypsum stack dike containing the process water, resulting in a spill that lasted 24 hours. The contaminated water flowed into Archie Creek before entering Hillsborough Bay. NOAA’s pre-assessment report will provide the basis for calculation of financial damages, and restoration planning and selection of restoration projects. It can be accessed online at http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/resource_catalog.php under “response reports.”

In the days, weeks and months following the spill, pH assessments (of acidity) were particularly important. Crabtraps were already present in the area and provided an opportunity to evaluate one aspect of impacts to fisheries. All crabs and fish in the Archie Creek crab traps were dead. An estimated 7400 fish washed ashore. Approximately 155 acres of marsh, mangroves and vegetation were damaged in the spill, which also claimed more than 2.8 acres of seagrass. A little more than 21 acres of seagrasses were stressed but appear to be recovering. Restoration of the impacted area may take anywhere from two to 10 years.

As recently as January, a faulty pipe at the plant resulted in a leak of approximately 40,000 gallons of contaminated waste product, killing hundreds of small fish. The spills prompted discussion about what measures were being put in place to guard against future accidents. Mosaic has invested $30 million in water management improvements at the Riverview plant, including $14-million for a system capable of evaporating 500 gallons of water a minute; $11 million to install additional holding ponds – increasing process-water surge capacity to 324 million gallons vs. 38 million gallons before the Frances breach; and $5 million to raise the gyp stack walls and install a “double-dike” system.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection recently proposed changes to its gyp stack rules to require both improved reporting of water levels and storage capacities, and to ensure that companies have sufficient ability to consume process water and maintain safe levels even during periods of catastrophic or chronically heavy rainfall.

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