STATE OF WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF ECOLOGY IN THE MATTER OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER AGAINST Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC TO: AGREED ORDER DOCKET #15422 Kessina Lee Department of Ecology Southwest Regional Office PO Box 47775 Olympia, WA 98504-7775 Order Docket # 15422 Site Location Cypress Island Site 2, Deepwater Bay In response to the Administrative Order issued to Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC, Docket Number 15422, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC notes that, although stylized as an “Agreed Order” Cooke received no opportunity to review, comment, or agree to the terms of the order. Counsel for Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC discussed this issue with Ecology staff and was directed to note this point in response to this Administrative Order. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC wishes to work cooperatively with Ecology in response to this information request, but reserves all rights with respect to appeal of any determination made by Ecology as to the sufficiency of these responses and the legal and factual conclusions made by Ecology in issuing the Administrative Order. By responding to the Administrative Order, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific LLC does not waive any objections to the determinations or legal conclusions made by Ecology in this matter. Materials responsive to this request are being transmitted by Share File link, should you have any issues accessing those materials, please contact Kristine Couden (kcouden@nwresourcelaw.com) or Douglas Steding (dsteding@nwresourcelaw.com). i. The original engineering design of the Cypress Island Site 2 facility, including all calculations and modeling of environmental conditions used in the engineering of the facility. The design must address all requirements of Chapter 173-240 of the Washington Administrative Code. Response: Chapter 173-240 of the Washington Administrative Code implements RCW 90.48.110. It sets forth the regulatory requirements that apply to the plans and methods of operating and maintaining sewerage systems and sewage treatment or disposal plants. 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 2 By its terms, Chapter 173-240 does not apply to Cypress Island Site 2, which is not a sewerage system or a sewage treatment or disposal plant. See WAC 173-240-020. The Site 2 facility was put in place at Deepwater Bay by a predecessor to Cooke Aquaculture Pacific in 2001. Available documentation regarding the design and assessment of environmental conditions is included in the materials produced in conjunction with this response. ii. Chronology of structural changes/modifications and relocation/reposition of the facility as well as rationales for each change. Response: In the winter of 2011, in response to sediment sampling that indicated total organic carbon exceedances, the site was repositioned within Deepwater Bay. Available documentation regarding that relocation are included in the materials produced in conjunction with this response. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific submitted an application to replace and relocate the facility in February 2017. A copy of that application is included with this response and speaks for itself. That permit request was still pending at the time of the incident, and therefore no repositioning of the facility had occurred as requested in the permit application. Finally, in July 2017, as discussed herein, the facility was remoored and maintenance was performed on the structure in response to the July 2017 failure of moorings at the facility. iii. Documentations of all inspections, maintenance, and repairs on the Cypress Island Site 2 facility. Response: Documents responsive to this request are produced in the materials accompanying this response. Ecology inspection records from 2015 are also included, finding the facility in compliance with its NPDES permits. Cooke Aquaculture Pacific is continuing to perform searches for available records and will supplement this response accordingly. iv. Any maintenance policies, procedures, or schedules that applied to Cypress Island Site 2. Response: Documents responsive to this request are produced as in the materials accompanying this response. v. A detailed timeline of the incident at Site 2, including both the July 2017 and August 2017 incidents. July Incident:  On Monday, July 24, 2017, at approximately 7 pm, overnight staff at Cypress Island reported to management that there had been mooring failures at Site 2. 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 3  Inspection of the site on the evening of July 24 revealed that ten anchors points on the cages had broken at the site, and numerous other anchors had dragged, shifting the position of the site considerably.  That evening, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific called tug boats to assist in stabilizing the site, and then worked throughout the night attempting to re-secure Site 2, replacing anchors and re-attaching several mooring points.  Divers inspected the site during the morning of July 25, 2017, and confirmed no containment had been breached and stock had not been lost.  On Tuesday July 25, 2017, the moorage anchors which had been replaced overnight once again broke free. This may have coincided with a flood tide. This caused the site to shift again, threatening the walkways. The facility was held in place through the night of the 25th using tugs and Cooke Aquaculture Pacific vessels and work began again to set anchors and secure the system.  From Wednesday July 26 through Saturday July 29, Cooke Aquaculture Pacific worked to reset and replace the mooring system for the Site 2 facility. By Saturday, the site was re-moored at the 90% level, and by the evening was tensioned and at the 95% level. This involved replacement of the mooring system and attachment points for the entire facility. During this time, the site was inspected by divers, with no signs of compromised stock nets, and no sign of fish escapes.  The Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Natural Resources and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife were notified and given status updates, including on July 27. At that time, the pending application to reorient the facility submitted in February 2017 was discussed. Emails were sent to Sean Carlson at DNR summarizing the incident. August Incident:  Saturday, August 19, 2017, at approximately 3:40 in the afternoon, Cypress Island staff reported that a mooring failure had occurred at the site. Again, we have some reason to believe this failure may have coincided with the afternoon flood tide. The failure resulted in major damage to the east end of the site (adjacent to pens 215 and 225). Two anchors on the northern outside end of the net pen complex failed, three other anchors were dragged, and one anchor on the shore side of the net pen complex (adjacent to Pen 211) had a broken pad eye, broken safety chain, and broken cleat. Two above-surface holes in pens 215 and 225 were visible, but there were no signs of fish escape at this time. Staff worked to secure fuel cells, generators, and other equipment and chain broken walkways and secure the site. A Foss tug was called, bridle equipment was installed, and overnight staff monitored the situation after sunset. 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 4  Sunday, August 20, 2017, during first inspection at 04:15 am, the site appeared to be stable. However, at approximately 6:40 am, a corner anchor adjacent to Pen 221 failed. Throughout the day, staff attempted to secure the site by reattaching anchor lines, but the tides in the area hampered this effort. Additionally, walkways and surface structures became unsafe for continued work. An attempt was made to swim fish out of damaged cages into adjacent cages for removal from the facility, but divers were unable to safely enter the water. Due to continued movement of the structure and resulting damage, the corners of cages 215 and 225 became submerged. Thereafter, Cooke personnel observed fish outside of those cages, but still contained within the predator nets. The other eight cages remained secure. Ecology, DNR, and WDFW were called to inform them of net damage and possible fish escape.  Monday, August 21, 2017: Strong tides and surge continued to inhibit Cooke’s efforts to secure the site. Nonetheless, Cooke personnel were able remove from the site a small number of fish. It was observed that walkways providing access to cages 214 and 224 were continually twisting and this twisting compromised the integrity of net-pens 214 and 224. Ecology, DNR, and WDFW were called again to report an estimate of fish loss based on the conditions at that time.  Tuesday, August 22, 2017: Attempts to remove fish from the facility were again hampered by strong tidal currents and unsafe conditions, and diving operations were suspended due to unsafe conditions. Assessments of cages were not safe to perform at this point.  Wednesday, August 23, 2017: The site was now a total loss. Attempts to remove fish from the collapsed net pens were again unsuccessful. Efforts remained focused on securing the site.  Thursday, August 24, 2017: Site stabilization efforts continued.  Friday, August 25, 2017: Site stabilization efforts continued. Chains were secured around the main walkway between cages 211 and 221 to create an attachment point for anchors. A safety chain was secured running the length of the main walkway. Crews used seven shots of two-inch chain and doubled two 5/8 lengths of braided rope, to make an anchor line to the large rock ashore. Additionally, at the main walkway adjacent to cages 223 and 223, a similar system of two shots of chain to 600’ of double 5/8-inch rope was secured to the Foss tug.  Saturday, August 26, 2017. The site was stabilized on Saturday and remained stable until removed from the water in September. Once the structure was stabilized efforts turned to removal of fish mortalities from the net pens, and deconstruction efforts. Both of these classes of activities are detailed in the daily 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 5 reports provided to Ecology, DNR, and WDFW, which are incorporated by reference in this Response. vi. An investigation report and design information regarding July 2017 incident at the Cypress Island Site 2 facility, including a detailed description of the incident, the sequence of events, notification and response procedures activated and a detailed incident casual analysis. Response: A formal investigation report has not been prepared for the July 2017 incident. The above bullets provide a description and sequence of the incident. Cooke management was notified of the incident and onsite as soon as possible on July 24. Cooke employees from other sites were mobilized and worked throughout the timeframe to respond to the failure of the moorings. While a detailed incident causal analysis has not been performed, the moorings failed at attachment points, see accompanying materials. The failures and difficulty in stabilizing the site corresponded to strong afternoon flood tides, with the stabilization efforts later that week benefiting from diminishing intensity of those tides. vii. Any remedial measures implemented after July 2017 incident, including but not limited to structural/mooring system modifications, pen relocation/repositioning, modifications of the operation/maintenance procedures and specifications of the original replacement structural components employed. Response: After the weekend of July 29, when the site was secured, Cooke implemented the following remedial measures at Site 2:  Net washing, which was ongoing throughout the incident with 80% of the stock nets washed by July 29, continued. Predator netting was also washed.  Safety chains on replaced moorings were installed, and maintenance crews worked to strengthen walkway areas.  The predator net and weighting system was inspected and found to be sound. Pictures of maintenance activities performed between July 31 and August 10 are provided in the materials accompanying this response. The pens were not relocated or repositioned significantly because the permits to do so had not yet been issued. viii. An investigation report and design information regarding the August 2017 incident at the Cypress Island Site 2 facility, including a detailed description of the incident, the sequence of events, notification and response procedures activated and a detailed incident causal analysis, as well as any correlation between the July 2017 and the August 2017 incident. 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 6 Response: A formal investigation report regarding the August 2017 is not available. The sequence of events, notification and response procedures activated are detailed elsewhere in this Response. An incident causal analysis has not yet been completed, although Cooke Aquaculture Pacific is cooperating with investigators from multiple agencies regarding cause of the failure. ix. An inventory of which cages within Site 2 were found breached, and a description of the breaches. Response: Cages are numbered in sequence, with one side of the facility numbered from 211 to 215 and the other side from 221 to 225, for a total of ten cages. All cages except 212 experienced fish escapes, with the inventory provided below. To the extent possible, the cages were inspected by Global Diving & Salvage using video equipment, with the following reports: x.  Cage 211: no holes observed, large amounts of mortality, lots of fish swimming;  Cage 212: Significant mortality, no holes observed;  Cage 213: Large hole in base, with no fish observed;  Cage 214: Significant morality, no swimming fish observed, no holes reported;  Cage 215: Unsafe and unable to assess;  Cage 221: Holes observed in net, significant mortality, not many swimming fish;  Cage 222: No fish observed, with the cage net pinched and very narrow at the base;  Cage 223: Possible holes, with no fish observed;  Cage 224: Significant numbers of swimming and dead fish;  Cage 225: Complete morality, no swimming fish observed. A cage by cage inventory of the number of fish lost due to escapement during the August 2017 incident. Response: The following table provides the inventory requested. Cage Number Mortality Count (removed from cages during salvage) Escape count (based on inventory prior to failure) 211 28,950 6,386 4839-0602-9649.1 Response to Administrative Order 15422 Page 7 xi. 212 29,162 0 213 0 32,378 214 19,600 11,460 215 2,800 23,814 221 26,600 2,953 222 250 24,802 223 0 31,418 224 26,310 4,443 225 6,225 22,513 Total 139,897 160,167 A statement as to whether any fish escaped from Site 2 during the July 2017 incident. Response: No fish escaped during the July 2017 incident. 4839-0602-9649.1