The goal of the fuel inspections is simple: prevent a catastrophic oil spill that would make its way into Y-K Delta rivers, devastate the ecosystem and threaten a subsistence lifestyle.
The U.S. Coast Guard recently completed a series of fuel tank safety inspections in communities across the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In the face of climate change, these checks are becoming all the more important as the land beneath these tanks melts.
“Staying in compliance with things like paperwork may seem extremely tedious, and it is, but it’s really not about the paperwork,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Nate Littlejohn, who works with the Coast Guard’s Anchorage sector. “It’s about getting together and talking about how you would respond to a spill with your community.”
The investigators check to make sure that fuel storage facilities have the right containment measures in place, that there’s a system to respond to a spill, and that communities have appropriate equipment to do so. These failsafes are becoming increasingly important as the land that fuel tanks sit on becomes more unstable.
“The aging infrastructure combined with a changing climate is continuing to be a problem,” Littlejohn said. “And we’re absolutely going to see more spills if a solution isn’t provided.”
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