State Official Applauds City's Response to Massive Fish Die-Off

Andrew Hughan, the public information officer for the state’s Department of Fish and Game, said he has seen plenty of responses to natural disasters during his three decades on the job. But the sardine die-off in King Harbor Marina last week was different.

“In 28 years of disaster management, Redondo Beach was the best prepared municipality that I have ever seen,” Hughan said by phone Wednesday. “They had a plan in place. They had the money in place. They had the logistics in place.

"I personally was blown away at the preparation that the city had, and from the state’s point of view it couldn’t have gone better,” he said.

Hughan didn't attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting, but officials credited the city’s quick response as well as the help it got in averting what might have been a disastrous situation when about 175 tons of sardines died unexpectedly from oxygen depletion in the harbor on March 8.

The cleanup effort involved 700 volunteers, with 60 to 100 deployed at any time, most of whom participated through the Redondo Beach Community Emergency Response Team. The cleanup also involved 200 nets, 24 wheelbarrows and 125 buckets, as well as trucks and front loaders, said city Public Works Director Mike Witzansky.

“The mantra was 'hands with nets,' ” Witzansky said. “That was really our most effective method from start to finish.”

“As we got more and more creative, we deployed different pieces of equipment like we never had before," Witzansky said. "We had air compressors bubbling up fish from the ground. We were using fire boat hoses trying to move things around. We were using skiff boats to create reverse currents to contain these things.”

The most important piece of equipment was the Vactor Vacuum trucks, which sucked up the fish, Witzansky said.

Officials credited neighboring cities for providing equipment and personnel during the cleanup, including the city of Hawthorne’s sewer crew, as well as equipment provided by Gardena, Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach. Palos Verdes Estates sent boats to help during the cleanup as well, officials said.

About 10 years ago, while City Councilman Pat Aust was fire chief, the city adopted a multi-function hazard plan that laid out protocols for various types of disasters, said Fire Chief Dan Madrigal.

“If it hadn’t been for that, we wouldn’t have had the results we have had,” Madrigal said, adding that the public information outreach led by police Sgt. Phil Keenan was very effective.

The heavy equipment used to remove the fish was constantly moving and too dangerous to allow the public in the area of Moonstone Park beyond the guard shack, said Police Chief Joe Leonardi.

“We apologize to the boat owners who didn’t have immediate access to their boats,” Leonardi said. “But it was necessary.”

Pete Carmichael, the newly hired harbor business and transit director, said he learned a lot about emergency response in a short amount of time.

“A hundred and seventy five tons of dead fish my 13^th day on the job, and then a tsunami on the 15^th day,” said Carmichael, who contacted marinas up and down the coast for ideas on what methods would work best for clearing out the sardines.

“Pretty quickly our options narrowed to an underwater dive operation, where they use a low-flow vacuum hose and a curtain boom response, much like you would see in an oil spill,” said Carmichael, adding that three contractors were able to be on site within 24 hours. Work was delayed Friday because of in the harbor as a result of the tsunami from Japan.

Mayor Mike Gin was tracking information about the surging water making its way from Japan at 2 a.m. on his laptop, officials said, and Leonardi said it was the right decision not to deploy volunteers while 15-mph water currents were rocking the docks in the harbor.

City officials said 175 tons of sardines were hauled away, although Dave Caron, a USC professor of biology studying water quality in the harbor, said 140 tons were taken away, by his count. Either way, the majority of the fish were removed before the decaying process advanced to make the removal especially difficult, officials said.

“Getting the fish out of the harbor, I think, was the best thing that could be done for two reasons,” Caron said. “One, all that decomposition would have put a tremendous burden [on replenishing] the oxygen ... in the water. The other problem is that the decomposition of all that fish material is going to release nutrients into the water that could very well give you an algal bloom in the water, which you don’t want.”

Besides the volunteers and public employees, especially public works employees, officials also credited the city's waste collection provider, Athens Services, for its work as well as City Manager Bill Workman for his leadership.

“It’s been suggested that somehow we angered King Neptune and somehow he delivered to our doorstep 175 tons of sardines and a tsunami,” Workman said. “Well, let me say that, yes, we have met the test.”

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