7/3/07 (Daily World writer) -  The supply chain for the new biodiesel plant at the Port of Grays Harbor likely will more than double the cargo vessel traffic for Grays Harbor.

But that increased traffic — half of which will be tug and barge combinations — also increases the risk of spills.

Department of Ecology officials say the potential effects of an offshore biofuel spill are still unknown, despite the company’s contention that biodiesel is “much less damaging than oil.”

But an Ecology spokesman said the agency wants to encourage “green” industries, and Imperium seems to be “on the right track” with its spill prevention and contingency plans.

Brian Young, Imperium Renewables’ director of business development, said the company will deal only with experienced shippers. Imperium has its own contingency plans should spills occur while ships are loading or unloading, he added.

“We are going to take every precaution just like we were a petroleum company. Our whole theory is that nothing should spill into the water,” he said.

The Grays Harbor biodiesel plant, scheduled to begin operations in July, will bring 36 to 48 more cargo vessels to the Harbor per year.

Thirty-three cargo ships entered the Harbor in 2006, down from 57 in 2005, according to statistics assembled by the Department of Ecology.

Gary Nelson, executive director of the Port of Grays Harbor, said “it’s hard to say just how much impact on the port (revenues) it’ll have.”

Imperium will use two types of ships in its supply chain — smaller tankers for bringing raw materials like palm oil to the facility’s loading station at Terminal One, and barges towed by tugs to take the finished biodiesel from Terminal Two to distributors throughout the West Coast. The company estimates it will produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel per year at the Hoquiam plant, which will be the nation’s largest.

Young said Imperium will use other companies to operate the open-ocean barges. “There’s only about six or seven companies on the West Coast that operate the barges, and they’re all well-known, reputable and in compliance with all regulations.”

If caught out in a major storm, tugs towing barges face the danger of losing their tow cables, as the Nestucca did in 1988, spilling 250,000 gallons of oil over 430 miles of coastline when the tug punctured the barge. More recently, the Nancy Jo lost its tow cable on Dec. 27, some 25 miles west of Ocean Shores, but crews were able to reattach the tow cable after the barge drifted toward the shore for two hours.

While those barges were carrying petroleum, not biodiesel, Young said Imperium isn’t overlooking the dangers of a spill.

“The tugs will be owned and operated so those companies are responsible for the safety of the cargo,” he said. “They all have their own spill response plans and gear.”

A spill of any kind is potentially dangerous to birds and aquatic life, but biodiesel and vegetable oil spills are significantly less toxic than petroleum spills, according to Young. “Studies show that biodiesel dissolves well in water, is highly biodegradable and non-toxic,” he said. “It’s much less damaging than oil.”

But Curt Hart, a Department of Ecology spokesman, wouldn’t go that far. He said there isn’t enough empirical evidence to say a large-scale biofuel or vegetable oil spill would be less hazardous.

“We can’t give a blanket statement right now that biofuels aren’t as hazardous to the environment. I think we need to have a good body of information to examine as these facilities start coming online.

“On the face of it, I would say petroleum is more toxic, but if you look at palm oil, you could have a smothering effect,” Hart said. “It might be something that a foraging bird could get in their feathers, or affect the eel grass beds. We don’t know how it would disperse into the Harbor or if it would pool. These are questions that we don’t know the answers to.”

Hart said Ecology views anything spilling into the state’s waters as potential pollutants, but the Legislature hasn’t enacted any regulations specific to the marine transit of biofuels as they have with petroleum.

Vessels carrying petroleum products and the refineries that produce them are subject to strict Ecology and Coast Guard regulations, including a mandatory oil spill contingency plan, oil spill prevention plan, inspections and regular oil spill readiness drills.

“That doesn’t mean that (legislation) couldn’t come,” Hart added. “We have flagged that we don’t have any state laws or rules regarding biofuels and that it is an issue that the Legislature and the Governor’s Office is aware of.”

Young said Imperium stands ready to comply with new biofuels regulations, should they come to fruition. “Actually, we’ve designed our entire facility to the standards that apply to the petroleum facilities, even though we’re far from a petroleum refinery. Our spill response plans are fully up to the code required for petroleum facilities.”

Imperium has spill response plans for the facility itself, and Young said the company has submitted the plans to Ecology for evaluation.

“Ecology strongly supports projects that are green in nature,” Hart said. “But we want to make sure they’re operated safely and that it doesn’t put the environment at risk. It sounds like (Imperium) is on the right track.”