I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Debbie Lundin Boyd the CEO/Owner of RLB Contracting Inc. on Thursday after the horrible dredge fire accident this week. She was open, honest and very transparent in discussing the accident. Her company is the owner of the dredge boat the Jonathon King Boyd that was involved in the pipeline fire on April 17th. This dredge was named after Mr. Fisher and the Boyd’s oldest son and was a special vessel. Even after sitting in the flames and extreme heat, the hull of the dredge is intact. Ms. Boyd says even if insurance declares a total loss they will rebuild the barge. Randy Boyd, her husband and business partner built this barge, and like his grandfather was a great builder. The safety investigators said the Boyd is ‘seaworthy and surprisingly well-built’ when they cleared the vessel for towing. Inspectors were surprised and pleased at the condition of the Boyd after the fire.
The night of the fire there 190,000 gallons of diesel fuel were stored on board the Boyd. Two tank valves were open and in use and two were closed on the vessel when the pipeline caught fire after being hit by an anchoring system on the Boyd. The fuel contained in the opened tanks burned off well into Wednesday as seen in the many reports of the fire, while the two closed valves tanks remain complete and will have to be drained before rescue and repair of the vessel. Wednesday and Thursday, numerous safety examinations found no diesel fuel in the water and no leaking from the Boyd. Containment buoys and the integrity of the vessel worked to prevent a more serious disaster. The gas from the damaged line may cause some need for cleanup and restoration as pollution investigations continue, but inspectors finally cleared the Jonathon King Boyd as safe to be towed late Wednesday night. It was towed to Port Lavaca for restoration.
Ms. Boyd stated there were two pipelines in the designated dredge area left after an offshore well was capped in a 20-30 mile shut in or containment. TomCat East and West were both were damaged in Hurricane Harvey and the West one was removed. TomCat East remained but was not sufficiently marked and was hit in the dredge process. It was a closed line. The Jonathon King Boyd crew all evacuated without injury or incident. Ms. Boyd was proud to report that the crew will be paid in full no matter what happens in coming days. They will not miss one check or hour of work as some will work on restoration of the damaged Boyd and some will go to another active dredge site. This crew is family and the Boyd’s are grateful for everyone’s safety and plan to take care of them going forward.
Ms. Boyd was full of praise for those involved in this accident and said the Port O’ Connor Coast Guard, Firefighters and citizens were wonderful to work with throughout. They were professional, helpful and nothing but kind. She also praised competitors and participants in the business who have been full of care and concern. Numerous calls to check on the crew came in and many have offered to lease or arrange cooperation to finish the job.
Due to the fire, the crew will be demobilizing, removing gear and equipment from the beach and smoothing out the sand that is already deposited. Eventually, Ms. Boyd says they will return and finish the project when crew and equipment become available. The Corp of Engineers will likely continue the project at that time. Either way, our sandy beachfront is bigger and better, and I know we are all glad that there were no serious injuries or environmental complications from this incident.
