Success Story - USS Chehalis: Investigation and Fuel Offload Operation

USS Chehalis: Investigation and Fuel Offload Operation Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa

Prepared for Pacific Islands Environment Conference, 2013

USS Chehalis c. 1945

This report is based on “Environmental Assessment for USS Chehalis, Pago Pago Harbor American Samoa: Phases I and II”, and “Environmental Assessment for USS Chehalis, Phase III – Cargo Inspection” by former American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency Technical Services Program, and EPA Region 9 Pacific Islands Office, San Francisco.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise 

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The USS Chehalis was commissioned on 05 December 1944 in Savage Minnesota as a 4,130ton displacement, US Navy Patapsco Class gasoline tanker ship.

The Chehalis was 311-feet in length. Her beam was 49-feet, and she drew 14 ½-feet of water.

Chehalis voyaged to the Pacific Ocean in 1945 and spent seven months providing fuel to US Navy torpedo boats and other small craft in the Philippines and Okinawa.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.)  

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After February 1946, Chehalis transported fuel in the central and southern Pacific Ocean region.

On 07 October 1949, while off-loading gasoline at Pago Pago Harbor on the Island of Tutuila, American Samoa, the USS Chehalis suffered an explosion and began to burn.

Because the fire could not be contained, the Chehalis was eventually towed away from the fuel terminal, at which point the USS Chehalis’ starboard anchor was deployed to hold her away from the dock facility as she continued to burn.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.) 

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Shortly after 15:00 on 08 October, one 10” and two 6” thru-hull valves were opened to flood the Chehalis’ and eventually submerge her with just a small portion of the bow still exposed at 23:25.

A participant in the fire-fighting and scuttling process, Mr. Joe Yandall, says that the Chehalis originally sat upright on the harbor bottom in shallower water than where she lays today. Mr. Yandall also states that before the tuna canneries were built, Pago Pago Harbor water was very clear and the Chehalis could be seen with the naked eye when paddling over, it in a canoe, on a sunny day.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.) 

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When she sank, there were 76 enlisted US Navy personnel, and four (4) officers, assigned to sea duty on the Chehalis.

Six crewmembers were killed or missing as a result of the explosion(s) and subsequent fire, but only four (4) bodies were recovered and identified.

Mr. Yandall also states that before being scuttled and sunk, Chehalis was thoroughly searched from bow to stern for any personnel who may have still been on board. No persons, or bodies, were found.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.) 

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Mr. Yandall relates that soon after she sank, the U.S. Navy sent underwater demolition divers down on the Chehalis to cut away vertical masts and antennae which were considered to be hazardous to inner harbor navigation.

Today Chehalis rests on her starboard side in 160feet of water approximately 310-feet off-shore from the inner Pago Pago Harbor B-P Oil South West Pacific Ltd. fuel dock.

It is not known when Chehalis might have shifted from an upright posture to lay on her side.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.) 

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A variety of masts, booms, steel members, cables, etc. are precariously tangled along the center walkway between the Chehalis port and starboard bulk cargo tanks. These materials are not secure, and, due to the ship laying on its side, represent danger to any divers who may swim beneath them.

Other deck mounted housings, assemblies, etc., are now cantilevered horizontally into space and add more variables to the hazardous environment where Chehalis lays.

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Story of USS Chehalis’ Service and Demise (cont.) 

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Some published narratives of the USS Chehalis burning and sinking state that the vessel was sold by the US Navy to the American Samoan Government (ASG) for $50 in 1955.

Acting-Director David Herdrich of the American Samoa Historical Preservation Office states that no completed contract or bill of sale has ever been located by the ASG, nor produced by the US Navy, to verify the sale of USS Chehalis to the ASG. 9

Current Location of USS Chehalis (cont.)

Pago Pago Inner Harbor

USS Chehalis

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Current Location of USS Chehalis (cont.)

Stern

USS Che hal is

Vessel Resting on Starboard Side

Bow

Fuel Dock

Ho er k a inm Ra

tel

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Current Location of USS Chehalis (cont.)

Important components of community infrastructure sited within 200-meters of the USS Chehalis include:     

BP Oil South-West Pacific Ltd. Fuel Dock American Samoa Convention Center Pago Pago Harbor Port Facility Casamar Samoa, Inc. (commercial marine services) Rainmaker Hotel (closed and scheduled for renovation) 12

Current Location of USS Chehalis (cont.)

Additional elements of community infrastructure sited within 300-meters of the USS Chehalis include:    

AS-ED Early Childhood Education Children’s Center (an active pre-school) American Samoa Governor’s Residence Sadie’s By-The-Sea (tourist hotel and restaurant) American Samoa Highway No. 1 (the only road connecting the east side of the island to the west side of the island) 13

Current Location of USS Chehalis (cont.)

Additional important community infrastructure sited within 600-meters of the USS Chehalis, include:      

Starkist (largest private employer in AS) SamPac (2nd. largest private employer in AS) Lee Auditorium (large public events venue) AS Lieutenant Governor’s residence Samoana High School Utulei Beach 14

Satellite Photo of USS Chehalis Proximity Starkist Cannery

B-P Oil Fuel Dock

SamPac

Rainmaker Hotel

Convention Center

Port Facility USS Chehalis LT Governor’s residence Pre-School Governor’s Residence

Sadie’s By-theSea Lee Auditorium Utulei Beach Samoana HS 15

Location Photo of USS Chehalis Proximity Governor’s Residence

B-P Oil Fuel Dock

Cheh alis

Port Dock and Terminal

Inner Pago Pago Harbor

Samoa Packing

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Location of USS Chehalis (approximate)

From this position, the B-P Oil fuel dock and terminal is on the port side of the M/T AXIOS

When fuel tankers regularly off-load diesel and gasoline at the B-P Oil Dock, they pass directly above the USS Chehalis during their approach to, or departure from, the fuel dock facility.

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Governor’s Residence Convention Center Rainmaker Hotel

B-P Oil Terminal

Fuel

Today’s Pago Pago Harbor fuel dock is located in the same place where the fuel dock was when USS Chehalis exploded, caught fire, burned and sank in October 1949.

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USS Chehalis’ Cargo When USS Chehalis arrived in Pago Pago on 7 October 1949 she off-loaded dry-cargo and then gasoline. Records indicate that 55,000 gallons of fuel had been pumped from the ship prior to the first explosion. Remaining cargo onboard included:  Two thousand rounds of 3” ammunition  16,000 rounds of 20 mm ammunition  (At least) 350,000 gallons of Mogas and Avgas  Unknown volume of ship’s propulsion fuel (diesel)  Unknown volume of oil in lube oil tanks

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USS Chehalis’ Remaining Cargo The 2007 USS Chehalis Phase III Cargo Inspection was based on four major project elements:  Direct first-hand inspection of ship’s cargo and fuel tanks through penetration dives and/or drilling through the ship’s hull.  Sampling fuel(s) and identification of fuel type(s).  Calculation of each fuel-type volume.  Accurate determination of fuel location(s).

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USS Chehalis’ Remaining Cargo

(cont.)

Per the October 1949 USN Court of Inquiry record, and per underwater investigation conducted during AS-EPA’s Phase III Assessment of Chehalis, cargo onboard USS Chehalis in 2007 included:  Two thousand rounds of 3” ammunition  16,000 rounds of 20 mm ammunition  40,000 gallons of Mogas  70,000 gallons of 115-140 Avgas  5,000 gallons of ship’s propulsion fuel (diesel)  Lube oil tank volumes were not determined due to their location below the aft end of the forecastle. 21

USS Chehalis’ Remaining Cargo

(cont.)

After being submerged and in contact with salt water for 48-years, 115145 octane Avgas still passes the “flame test”.

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USS Chehalis’ Remaining Cargo

(cont.)

There are approximately 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel remaining in Chehalis’ aft fuel tanks as indicated by detection of high diesel range organics concentrations.

No fuel was found in the ship’s forward fuel tanks, although it was evident that the tanks had contained fuel in the past, as indicated by trace concentrations of diesel range organics.

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USS Chehalis’ Fuel Leakage Evaluation

Corrosive “plating� is evident on the hull steel of USS Chehalis

(cont.)

Although Chehalis hull and cargo tanks remain largely intact, corrosion is evident and ongoing. It is certain that the estimated 115,000 gallons of fuel remaining on board will eventually be released to the surrounding waters either gradually, or catastrophically all at once.

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USS Chehalis’ Recommendations (cont.)

Chehalis is accessible, to divers.

In this photo, two divers with conventional SCUBA gear descend on Chehalis’ hull.

From a Homeland Security perspective, corrosion and seismic events are not the only forces which may impact Chehalis’ cargo in a catastrophic manner.

Vandalism, or even intentional actions could result in a fuel release at the same time as important surface level shipping activity is occurring above the USS Chehalis.

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USS Chehalis’ Recommendations

(cont.)

Ongoing potential for the additional release of fuel from the Chehalis is considered unacceptable. ASEPA, in consultation with USEPA R9’s Pacific Islands Office, believes that situation notification to the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, and other appropriate authorities should prompt appropriate mitigative action to be taken to eliminate fuel release potential from the USS Chehalis’ into the Inner Pago Pago Harbor environment.

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EX-USS CHEHALIS Fuel Offload Operation

By: Stephanie Brown

EX-USS CHEHALIS Fuel Offload Operation OCTOBER 1949

APRIL 2009

APRIL 2010

Current Location of Ex-USS CHEHALIS

USS

Stern

Che h

alis

Vessel Resting on Starboard Side Bow

Fuel Dock

Ra

tel Ho r e ak inm

Phase 1: Underwater Survey, April 2009

Phase 1 Results / Planning for Offload Hot tapping for diesel Skimmer Suction Head for gasoline

Ex-USS CHEHALIS FUEL PRODUCT LOCATIONS

Phase 2: Fuel Offload, April 2010

Phase 2: Fuel Offload, April 2010 Mooring/Setup Barge CAPELLA in moor Dive side set up on the fantail of SIOUX

Container pier with MSDU & ESSM gear staged

Phase 2: Fuel Offload, April 2010 Diving Operations

 65 hours of Bottom Time  92 hours Decompression Time

Phase 2: Fuel Offload, April 2010 Pumping/Sampling

Former American Samoa EPA Director, Fanuatele Dr. To’afa Vaiaga’e visiting barge

Pumping station on floating platform next to barge

Phase 2: Fuel Offload, April 2010 Pumping/Sampling

 Nearly 60,000 gallons of fuel (diesel and gasoline) removed  Recovered product taken via barge and rail to Kansas for recycling  Operation completed ahead of schedule  Estimate only 1 gallon of fuel released into environment

USS Chehalis

Thank you‌ The End 37