ABSTRACT
On August 24, 1998, there was an accidental hose failure at Tesoro Hawaii Corporation's (“Tesoro Hawaii” or “Tesoro”) single-point mooring (SPM) about a half mile off Barbers Point, near Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii. The incident released approximately 117 barrels of bunker fuel. Immediate containment and clean up efforts were commenced, but on September 5, 1998, tarballs began to come ashore on Kauai. Shoreline impacts were observed between Kilauea Point to Makahuena Point on the eastern shore and between Makaha Point and Mana Point on the western shore of Kauai. To avoid the costs and delays associated with litigating resource damages that may have resulted from the release and any associated civil penalties, the Trustees and Tesoro Hawaii entered into a cooperative Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) protocol. The Trustees and Tesoro Hawaii conducted a phased approach focusing on injury determination and quantification using technical working groups (TWGs) composed of Trustee and Tesoro Hawaii representatives. Resource injuries considered were for seabirds, marine environment (opihi), marine mammals (Hawaiian monk seal), and human use. To expedite the process, it was agreed that time and money would best be spent identifying and scaling restoration projects. Coordination of effort was key to cost-effectiveness of the assessment and avoiding duplication of studies. The Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment were accomplished within two years, including public participation. Restoration actions were undertaken promptly following execution of the Consent Decree. One of the initiatives developed by this collaborative effort was a derelict net removal project (the “Project”). The Project met the goals of the Trustees by compensating for interim losses to shoreline, intertidal and subtidal habitats and the biota in those habitats and by addressing potential injury to the endangered Hawaiian monk seal.
