He helped organize lists of available people and resources in the Homer area. Working with Gallagher Marine Services, a contractor representing the company responsible for the spill, St-Amand compiled rosters of local residents trained to handle stranded marine mammals and updated a list of residents trained in oil-spill response in case the spill's unified command center requested help.
St-Amand, who owns and operates Otterworks, a charter company for marine research trips, said he received training one year ago from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as part of its Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
He also compiled a list of residents trained for oil spill response and cleanup.
"The second day after the spill, we were ready with 15 trained personnel," he said.
The spill's unified command center at Unalaska had been set up to handle the spill of at least 40,000 gallons of bunker fuel into waters near Unalaska in early December.
While the response contractor originally enlisted St-Amand's help, the series of events at the site led it to call off that help.
While he waited, he contacted Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. in Kenai, home of the half-million-dollar Sea Otter Rehabilitation Center.
St-Amand said he hoped to convince CISPRI to make its facility available for transport to the island.
So far, the carcasses of two oiled otters have been found at the site, according to Pam Tuomi of Homer, a veterinarian who recently returned from the spill site. It was not known whether the otters died as a result of the spill, however.
CISPRI General Manager Doug Lentsch said the center, designed by the Navy and built by major oil producers after receiving a directive from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, hasn't been requested by response organizers to commit its animal care infrastructure to the spill site.
He would imagine something could be worked out between the state and the oil industry if it were deemed necessary, however.
"It would be an expensive request to move that," he said, referring to the otter facilities. "If ... this thing was needed out there, I think the oil companies would pony up and make sure it happened."
While oil companies have prepared for an oil spill in and around Cook Inlet, St-Amand said, the Aleutian accident raises the issue of how to respond when a spill occurs in a more remote region.
In the meantime, he remains ready should things get worse in Unalaska.
The volunteer efforts of individuals like St-Amand and his wife, L.A. Holmes, who went through the stranded marine training course as well, are greatly appreciated, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"He and L.A. are our biggest otter volunteers," said Karen Boylan. "They have been wonderful - they're very passionate."
Chris Eshleman can be reached at chris.eshleman@homernews.com.
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