EDEN STAR grounds at COA
Cleanup underway
BAR HARBOR—Hurricane Lee has come and gone, but left some impacts to MDI behind this weekend as power stayed out for many island customers, internet went down, and some waterways stayed flooded.
On Saturday morning, September 16, the M/V Eden Star, operated by Acadian Boat Tours in Bar Harbor, Maine, broke free from its mooring during Hurricane Lee and grounded near the College of the Atlantic.
According to the Dave Madore, Maine’s Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, “Responders from Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP) were on scene at the incident location to assess the situation and determine the level of pollution risk. The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in Belfast, Maine was also helping coordinate pollution mitigation and salvage efforts.”
However, things did not go as smoothly as the state and owners of the 70-foot Gulf Craft Eden Star and environmentalists may have hoped.
“Unfortunately, due to the rocky shoreline and rough sea-state associated with passing of Hurricane Lee, the hull and diesel fuel tank of the M/V EDEN STAR were breached, and a discharge of diesel fuel occurred,” Madore said in an email Sunday.
The Eden Star has two 550 HP John Deer diesel engines and can have up to 128 passengers. Acadian Boat Tours has a fleet of five boats. Trips depart from the Atlantic Oceanside Hotel on 119 Eden Street.
“The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) conducted boat patrol of surrounding waters and overflight and no visible sheening was observed. Today, DEP staff returned to the site to see whether there was any fuel along the shore that needed additional cleanup,” Madore said.
Sunday afternoon, College of the Atlantic Professor and Chair of Bar Harbor’s Marine Resources Committee, Chris Petersen said that when visiting the area, you can smell whiffs of diesel, but there is no visible sheen on the water.
Petersen said that the state advises that people do not go near the boat or on the beach where it ran aground.
It is at a site where Petersen does some intertidal censuses, he said, and near another site that they census, so he expects to have some data on before and after for some species.
“This accident has caused a pulse of fuel leaking into the environment, I expect that there will be some immediate toxicity, but the storm dispersed the fuel quickly, and I expect that the immediate impacts of poisoning some organisms will quickly subside for organisms living on the rocks, but I have no idea what the impact will be on the intertidal and sub-tidal sediments around the accident site,” he said.
The Eden Star is part of Acadian Boat Tours. She offers puffin, lighthouse, and seabird tours and originally came from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states,
“The release of oil and chemicals into our coastal waterways can kill wildlife, destroy habitat, and contaminate critical resources in the food chain. Spills can also wreak havoc on the economies of coastal communities by forcing the closure of fisheries, driving away tourists, or temporarily shutting down navigation routes. And these environmental and economic damages can linger for decades.”
Cruise ships that normally would have stopped in Bar Harbor diverted because of the storm. The CAT, a ferry to Nova Scotia, cancelled its voyages.
According to the Associated Press,
“Billy Bob Faulkingham, House Republican leader of the Maine Legislature, and another lobsterman survived after their boat overturned while hauling traps ahead of the storm Friday, officials said.
“The boat's emergency locator beacon alerted authorities and the pair clung to the hull until help arrived, said Winter Harbor Police Chief Danny Mitchell. The 42-foot boat sank.
"‘They're very lucky to be alive,’ Mitchell said.”
A 51-year-old Searsport man, Gary Phillips, whose wife is from Ellsworth, died when a tree fell on his vehicle Saturday morning on Route 1 in Searsport. It was his daughter’s fifth birthday. A link to a GoFundMe for the family is at the bottom of this article.
Local fire, ambulance, police, and public works crews were dispatched to numerous wires down, trees down, generator calls, and powerline sparking calls throughout the weekend.
The storm continues to weaken as it moves west of Newfoundland today. Maine’s state of emergency has been cancelled.
We hope to update this story and/or post a follow-up as more sources come back to work on Monday.
This story has been updated to include Gary’s family’s GoFundMe link and updated information about his death.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/Small-Diesel-Spills.pdf