Kirby Inland Marine leaves Port O’Connor “Better than they found it”.

Kirby Inland Marine is headquartered in Houston and has employees from up and down the Gulf Coast. Our vessels transit through Port O’Connor on a daily basis. Kirby employees enjoy the many opportunities the area offers for fishing and other outdoor sports. Hence, in many ways, Kirby feels as if it is and long has been a part of the community. When the recent spill occurred, Kirby’s view was that it needed to protect this community and the surrounding environment as if it were our own home and leave it as if the spill had never occurred. As it turns out, in some respects we were able to leave the community better than we found it.

With respect to the spill, when trajectory models suggested that the oil spilled in Galveston Bay could be headed down the coast, we recognized that it was essential to protect environmentally sensitive marshes and similar areas in the Matagorda Bay complex. In concert with the Coast Guard, Texas General Land Office and the government natural resource trustee agencies, we deployed contractors to set up boom to ensure the area was protected before the oil arrived. Fortunately, oil did not enter the bays and impact was limited to the beaches, primarily on Matagorda Island.

Again working with the various agencies, and especially with those responsible for the protection of wildlife, we formulated plans that would allow us to remove the oil from the beaches while limiting the disturbance to the environment. Those plans have now been executed, the oil was removed per the plans and we have taken steps to erase the traces of our presence in sensitive areas. We continue to monitor the area for any additional oil that may be discovered, but are hopeful that all significant areas of oiling have been cleaned up.

It takes a lot of people in the field, in staging areas and in the command post to carry out a complex operation such as this. At its peak, over 1200 people were a part of the response in the Matagorda area. The community allowed us the use of the Community Center in Port O’Connor as the command post for our Matagorda area response. One thing that we realized is that we needed more room outside than was available for staging equipment and in discussions with community leaders, we learned there was a desire to expand the parking lot at the community center. As a result, we were able to add 30,000 square feet to the parking lot. This accommodated our need to stage equipment and has been left behind to enhance this facility for the community. We know our use of the center added wear and tear to the facility, so we are also providing funds for some refurbishment, which we understand may include paint, waxing floors and the like.

We also looked for other ways our presence could have a positive impact on the community. As our response was winding down, we found that we had ordered more food than we needed for our crews. As a result, we were able to donate over 1200 meals to the Fisherman’s Chapel for distribution to the needy in the community.

Kirby deeply regrets that this spill occurred, but is very grateful for the support of the Port O’Connor community as we did what we could to make things right for the environment and the community that relies on it. We want to be a good neighbor wherever we operate and appreciate our good neighbors in Port O’Connor.

Kirby Inland Marine