Just past Lighthouse Lakes at the Port of Corpus Christi, barges from all over the world line up on any given day, 15 to 20 at a time, each waiting for a turn to dock and load. Any piece of equipment on those vessels could malfunction, ships could collide, weather and water could interfere and an oil spill could occur, says Tony Wood, Director of the National Spill Control School in Corpus Christi.
“The reality is that it [the Galveston oil spill] could just as easily have happened here,” Wood told the Corpus Christi Business News. “We have five times as much traffic as we did five years ago. It’s just like driving on the road. You put more cars on the road, there’s a greater chance of an accident.”
Response to the Galveston spill mobilized faster than any Wood has ever seen, he reported. If it had happened in Corpus Christi, the response would have been the same. Texas is prepared for whatever happens anywhere along its coastline, said Wood.
“We run drills all the time,” he said. “Just like fire drills, you do them hoping nothing ever happens, but when it does, you’re prepared.”
One advantage Corpus Christi has over other ports is that most of its refineries are inside an inner harbor, or cul de sac, making it easier to capture and clean the oil in the case of a spill. Galveston’s spill was minimized because it happened during an outgoing tide, which washed most of the oil into the gulf.
“What we worry about most is the oil coming into inlet waters,” he said. Oil in the wetlands adversely affects wildlife and the environment, which is harder to clean and harder on the economy.
Specific contingency plans for how to best protect these sensitive areas from spills are currently under way at the Harte Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Jim Gibeaut, one of the scientists involved in the research, says the study is in its first phase, but that information from earlier studies has been utilized by Galveston responders. And while Texas may be better prepared than most states, nothing is ever perfect.
“There are a lot of unknowns,” Gibeaut said. “Like tidal currents and other things that change all the time that could affect spill response: which bird migrations are occurring, which fish migrations are occurring, whether we are in a heavy tourist season, weather. There is a lot we cannot control that might cause things to get out of hand quickly.”
As ship traffic increases at the port — and the port prepares for bigger vessels with dredging operations and eventually a new Harbor Bridge — local authorities are staying prepared.
“We need to increase our vessel-traffic system and make sure all our procedures stay up to date with the increased traffic,” Gibeaut said.
Wood agreed and said Corpus Christi is doing just that.
“We’ve got a major petrochemical and tourist industry cohabiting side by side in a way you don’t see in any other place of the country,” Wood said. “All the workers and responders and people in the industry are fisherman and boaters and outdoors people. We have an attitude about it here, a synergy that is not recognized in most places. We have a respect for the environment and a dependency on a petrochemical-based economy that usually don’t work well together. It does here.”
