Earlier this year, NOAA Oil Spill Coordinator Ian Zelo shared the story of a 2010 diesel spill on Adak Island in the central Aleutian Islands of Alaska. A tanker was overfilling an underground storage tank, fuel entering the salmon stream Helmet Creek and nearby Sweeper Cove which needed to be restored which happened begin July 2013 in the remote place.

As Erika Ammann reports in the NOAA Response and Restoration blog, in the wake of the spill, dead fish were collected from Helmet Creek, where diesel was observed both in the creek’s waters as well as in the habitat along its banks. The first response consisted of removing grates and racks from Helmet Creek to improve the flow and profile of the stream for fish. Part of restoring Helmet Creek after the 2010 oil spill involved replanting vegetation along the banks.

On 8 July 2013, NOAA Restoration Center, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and representatives from the fuel facility responsible for the spill travelled to Adak Island to undertake restoration work for the harm done to fish, wildlife, and their habitat by the oil spill.

The team removed barrels from Helmet Creek. During this trip, we fish passage to the creek was restored and habitat and water quality improved by removing creosote pilings and grates over culvert openings which had created barriers and changes to the stream profile, re-grading the stream bed, restoring the main flow channel.

(Spill-international, Edited by Topco)