At 8:40 a.m., the mountain sent a plume of ash approximately 50,000 feet above sea level, sending ash to the north-northeast.

At 5:35 p.m., the mountain shot up another cloud to a height of 40,000 feet above sea level, based on radar.

Photographer: McKibben Jackinsky, Homer News Redoubt vent ash and steam Friday afternoon, seen from across Cook Inlet south of Anchor Point.

Less than two hours later, at 7:25 p.m., a stronger burst from the mountain sent a white cloud quickly boiling up into the early evening sky some 51,000 feet.

Taking an almost four-hour break, Redoubt's next eruption came at 11:20 p.m., when it threw a plume to an estimated 40,000 feet, followed by another eruption at 1:20 a.m. today. That cloud topped at 50,000, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Throughout the remainder of the early morning, small earthquakes have been observed and, as of 10 a.m., signals observed by AVO detect a low level ash emission coming from an area near the volcano's summit, with small earthquakes continuing.

The National Weather Service at 5:15 a.m. issued an ashfall advisory for the Alaska Range south of Skwentna.

Risk to the Drift River Terminal storage tanks, which hold 6 million gallons of crude oil and are located about 22 miles from Redoubt's summit, have led Trustees For Alaska on behalf of Cook Inletkeeper to issue a plea to Gov. Sarah Palin to declare a disaster emergency. In a letter to Palin released Friday evening, the Trustees specifically request:

* Immediate deployment of emergency oil spill response equipment to the site to prevent, contain and or mitigate a worst case scenario oil spill from the terminal; and

* All "prudent efforts" be made to remove oil at the terminal in a "safe and expeditious manner" until Redoubt's volcanic threat levels decrease.

The letter goes on to claim the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Coast Guard lack an actionable spill response plan. Referring to damage done by and lessons learned from the 1989 Exxon Valdez, when more than 11 million gallons of crude oil were spilled into Alaska waters, the Trustees letter urges Palin to keep the public informed of efforts to minimize the risk to Cook Inlet fisheries and those whose livelihood comes from the inlet.

"We ... request that you provide the public with complete information about what is being done to guard against a potential environmental catastrophe, including up-to-date reports, pictures, briefings, response plans, and related materials on the (Department of Environmental Conservation Web site," Vicki Clark, the Trustee's legal director, wrote.

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.