Journal Editorial

One step forward for rescue tug

Funding for a permanent rescue tug in the Strait of Juan de Fuca has received a big push from the state Senate.

Senate Joint Resolution 8004, sponsored by state Sen. Harriet Spanel, D-40th District, was approved by the Senate and formally requests that President Bush and members of Congress help fund a permanent rescue tug in the Strait.

We urge Congress to fund the tug. At stake: Protection of Puget Sound, the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary, Olympic National Park, tribal treaty rights, threatened and endangered salmon runs, and our nation’s relationship with Canada.

The tug has traditionally been funded through a combination of state and federal dollars. Last year, the state allocated $1.7 million for the rescue tug, and Gov. Gary Locke is requesting an additional $1.4 million to fund the rescue tug through the winter of 2003.

“It is a state responsibility, but also a federal responsibility,” Spanel said. We agree.

As stated in our Jan. 30 editorial, “Make tug funding a priority,” more than 6,000 ships use the Strait every year, sharing it with multitudes of fishing and sight-seeing boats. The ships are already taking their toll on marine wildlife through engine disturbance and waste but the effects of an oil spill would be catastrophic.

The possibility of an oil spill became even more evident on Jan. 19, when a tug boat collided with a tanker in stormy seas in Rosario Strait, southwest of Anacortes. Luckily, no oil was spilled and the tug boat was escorted to shore by a local pollution control vessel.

Since September, the rescue tug Barbara Foss has been called to the scene of seven maritime accidents, five of them since Thanksgiving weekend. On Jan. 3, the Barbara Foss assisted a tug, Pacific Avenger, that lost steering in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. The tug was towing a barge laden with 2.1 million gallons of diesel fuel.

One spill in the Strait of Juan de Fuca or nearby waters would not only devastate the delicate marine ecosystem of the San Juan Islands but also the commercial fishing and shell-fishing industries. The benefits of funding a rescue tug clearly outweigh the risks of not funding a tug.

For the Record

Chris Lawson is owner of Chris Lawson Excavation. His company affiliation was incorrect in the story, “Rebirth of the Mullis Center,” page B1, Feb. 6 Journal.

Accuracy is a fundamental of journalism. If you believe we have erred, call Editor Richard Walker at 378-4191, ext. 15, or send an email.

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