Selendang Ayu Draft Assessment Plan Available for Public Review

The Natural Resource Trustees for the M/V Selendang Ayu oil spill have released a draft Assessment Plan for public review. In December of 2004, the M/V Selendang Ayu shipping vessel ran aground and split in half, while traveling through the Aleutian Islands, spilling about 350,000 gallons of oil and diesel, as well as 132 million pounds of its soybean cargo on the northern shores of Unalaska Island, Alaska. The draft Assessment Plan describes the Trustees' proposed future natural resource damage assessment and restoration (NRDAR) activities that will be needed in order to identify appropriate compensatory restoration projects for this spill.

Based on the results of pre-assessment studies, in 2007, the Trustees determined it was necessary to conduct a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) to determine the full nature and extent of natural resource losses resulting from the incident and the restoration actions needed to restore these losses. As part of the NRDA process, the Trustees developed the draft Assessment Plan to ensure that the NRDA is conducted in an efficient and cost effective manner. 

The draft Assessment Plan describes how the Trustees intend to complete the evaluation of the oil spill's harm done to marine birds, marine mammals, other marine resources, and the human uses of those natural resources. Secondly, the draft Assessment Plan describes the work to be done to develop and evaluate restoration ideas, obtaining input from stakeholder groups. The draft Assessment Plan also describes a rough budget for the evaluation work. 

The Natural Resources Trustees are comprised of federal and state agency representatives, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Alaska Departments of Law, Fish and Game, Environmental Conservation, and Natural Resources. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service representative is the point of contact for the Natural Resources Trustees.

The Trustees encourage active participation of the public in the assessment through the public comment process. Comments regarding the draft Assessment Plan may be submitted in writing by November 4, 2015 to:

Upon completion of the NRDA described in the draft Assessment Plan, the Trustees will release a Restoration Plan for public comment. This Restoration Plan will describe the results of the NRDA and the Trustees’ proposed restoration alternatives for compensating for the environmental harm caused by the M/V Selendang Ayu oil spill.

Further Reading:

Draft Assessment Plan 

Fact Sheet

Federal Register Notice

FWS Alaska Region

Alaska-Division of Spill Prevention and Response