The US Coast Guard is responding to reports of more than 100 unmarked containers that have washed up on and around Montague Island in Prince William Sound.
The containers, ranging in size from 5 to 55-gallon drums, were first reported by Gulf of Alaska Keepers, a nonprofit organization that works to remove marine debris with funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Response and Restoration Marine Debris Program.
Scattered along the southern coastline of the island, the containers are in varying conditions, and their contents remain unknown.
Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Valdez is leading the response effort and coordinating with several partner agencies to assess whether the containers pose a threat to the environment or public safety. Agencies involved in the assessment include:
- NOAA – Office of Response and Restoration
- Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- U.S. Department of the Interior
- Chugach Alaska Corporation
“The Coast Guard is the lead federal agency responsible for recovery and removal of oil and hazardous material in U.S. waters and along the coastline,” officials said in a statement. “We are working with our partners to determine the extent of the threat and take appropriate action.”
Once the assessment is complete, the Coast Guard will oversee the removal of any containers determined to contain oil or hazardous substances. Officials emphasized that the effort is part of a broader mission to protect Alaska’s marine environment, ensure safe navigation, and safeguard the state’s vital maritime and commercial resources.
Remote Alaska coastlines, particularly Montague Island, have a long history of being a landing place for marine debris drifting in from across the Pacific. Usually not in this number, however.
After the 2011 Japanese tsunami, debris including containers, buoys, and even small vessels crossed the ocean and came ashore in Prince William Sound. Cleanup groups, including Gulf of Alaska Keepers, documented and removed hundreds of drums and containers over several years.
Even before that event, 55-gallon drums and industrial containers have regularly washed up on Alaska’s shores, believed to originate from passing vessels, foreign shipping, and fishing operations. Many arrive unmarked, and each requires inspection to ensure they do not contain hazardous substances.
Because of strong currents that funnel floating debris into the Gulf of Alaska, Montague Island has often been described by cleanup crews as a “catcher’s mitt” for marine debris from across the Pacific.
We spend millions, more likely billions, on climate change studies and initiatives yet our oceans and coastlines tend be neglected. Sadly, there’s no money to be made in ocean and shoreline clean so it’s low priority.
From Japan tsunami. They had a chemical shipping facility fall into the sea. Unusual barrel as the top is higher than the flange.
Smart money would bet that the containers have heavily eroded Chinese characters embedded onto the exterior of the barrels. We live in a society where that line of research isn’t allowed to be considered when random plastic waste shows up on American shores.
Also, blue barrels? Are you expecting anything but punctured drinking water barrels that had the buoyancy to make it to Alaska?
Saw a link recently that 95 % of the plastic in the oceans comes from six major rivers , all in Africa, Middle East and Asia. The third world could give a rip about your electric cars, recycling sandwich bags, and eliminating gas stoves ! They’re playing catch up to us and theres no rules to be broken
Having worked in an environmental analytical laboratory in the past, on exactly this kind of stuff, I can tell you that characterizing a completely unknown (and potentially hazardous) liquid waste is a very time-consuming and expensive process, involving many different testing protocols.
Just a thought. Montague Island is one of the premier fishing destinations in Prince William Sound and the trash and hazardous materials situation there has been documented for several years now. As such, has the State of Alaska Fish and Game or any Federal agency done any studies regarding the safety of consuming fish caught there?
FIVE agencies to determine what’s in the barrels???? Super waste. NOAA Auke bay lab can do it with lab equipment such as their spectroscopy tools and Chromatography systems. Lets don’t make this into another multi million dollar boondoggle that Alaska is so famous for,
This right here. Yes. Agreement.
The problem is that most people in Alaska who are in charge of anything want to be a part of the good ol boys and girls club, where maintaining current infrastructure is ignored and focusing on “new projects” that look good on their resume are a better use of stolen taxpayer dollars.
Why respond to something in a fiscally responsible way with the least amount of departments involved when you can profit off of that one viral social media selfie, making it seem like you’re a hero because you’ve involved more than everyone and now you have this new focal point to list on your political resume?! We’ve seen it happen and dismantle lovely towns all across Alaska, even the quaint small ones.
Have you been to Juneau lately? Total waste of taxpayers dollars everywhere you turn. Instead of fixing the campground at Mendenhall (post flood) they are building new cabins and roads in a campground that already has existing camp spaces and bathrooms they won’t open up for current campers. Instead of replacing or fixing a dead picnic table for less than a few hundred dollars, the powers at be would rather spend $100k on a new road up to a picturesque cabin site that overlooks the lake. They can put it on their recreation rental site that never works properly and have it sit there and rot just like the picnic tables have and nobody but the parks and rec hosts will benefit. Juneau used to be one of those lovely towns but now everyone is too busy answering emails to do any actual work.
This is like the 1% for art scam… how about we use 1% for maintaining the stuff we’ve already built before we go dump more fraud and wasted taxpayer dollars into another new rabbit hole?!
Why all this focus on Montague all of a sudden?! Ask yourselves that question again. Massive clean ups. Excessive response on the junk that is there. Ask yourself again. Who benefits? Why are they focusing so much on this particular island? Social media? What is it going to turn into? New project? All these departments involved are only going to ruin the treasure it once was.