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Impact on wildlife is minimal; officials warn people to stay away By Paul Fattig The International Wildlife Recovery Center on Little Butte Creek was told to stand down Friday late afternoon. The freshly trained crew at the newly minted facility had been poised to respond to an environmental disaster from the New Carissa cargo ship that ran aground near Coos Bay, but an effort to burn the 400,000 gallons of fuel oil before it could foul the nearby beaches appears to have been successful. "Things have been going fairly smoothly -- the burn has been very successful," said Simon Wray, wildlife biologist with the state Fish and Wildlife Department who has been acting as a liaison between the private center and the department. "But it's far from over," stressed Wray who works out of the department's Central Point office. "Things could change." The $2.5 million center, directed by Ralph Wehinger, could still be mobilized if hundreds of birds were found covered with oil, Wray said. But by Friday evening, less than half a dozen birds were being treated at mobile treatment facilities at the site. All told, five dead birds had been found. Meanwhile, sightseers will not be allowed near the ship, stressed Veronica Vandrowsky, a Coast Guard Petty Officer assigned to the Joint Information Center in Coos Bay. "We have a two-mile security zone around the area now," she said Friday evening. "We're asking people to stay away from the site. "We appreciate people wanting to help but we don't need any more people over here," she added. "We don't need any more volunteers right now." The call for the center's stand down -- military jargon for stepping down from maximum alert -- doesn't mean the emergency is over, Wray said. "But right now they aren't looking for volunteers because they need people who have expertise in dealing with hazardous material," he said. "There are a lot of people with good hearts wanting to help. But they just need those with expertise." The wildlife recovery center located near the community of Lake Creek had been preparing for such an emergency, Wehinger said. Seven people from the center completed an operation-readiness class on Friday, he noted. "It was a scramble but we were ready," Wehinger said. "It just happened that this environmental emergency, our first one, was in Southern Oregon. It was a good operational test. We're ready to respond to any place in Canada and the United States." The center, which will respond to what Wehinger described as catastrophic events, has a contract with more than 100 oil companies, he noted. "We're glad that very little wildlife has been impacted so far," he said. "But things could change. We're still in an alert mode. Wildlife could still be at risk." The center will be ready when it is called upon, he said. "Unfortunately, it is going to happen again," he said. "We're not using any less oil. We're not having any less cargo ship movement. Our ships aren't getting any younger. "Take all three of those considerations and it will happen again," he said. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA