LITTLE BOSTON — The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe tested its spill response tools May 20, when a 60-foot former navy boat tore away from its anchor and drifted ashore during a spring storm.

The boat washed onto a beach off Little Boston Road and listed heavily in the mud, dribbling diesel fuel out of vents in its tanks. With state Department of Ecology and U.S. Coast Guard crews hours away, the tribe turned to an oil spill response trailer stationed at Point Julia, and drug a containment boom into place around the mired vessel to keep the fuel from spreading.

It was the first time the tribe has used the spill response trailer, which was stationed in Little Boston in 2007, as part of a state Department of Ecology Grant program. The idea behind the program is for responders to contain spills and control the scope of damage while waiting for Ecology crews to arrive.

The Port Gamble Bay incident proved to be relatively minor– likely 80 to 300 gallons of diesel leaked out before a contractor removed 1,200 gallons from the boat. Had the spill been bigger, the tribe would have at least had the damage contained, said Paul McCollum, director of the tribe’s Department of Natural Resources.

“It’s very useful in this type of area,” McCollum said. “Especially in a case like this, when no one else is covering it, you can jump right on it.”

Another trailer is kept at the Port of Kingston and has been used several times in the last three years, North Kitsap Fire and Rescue spokeswoman Michèle Laboda said.

Ecology staged 39 response trailers in Washington coastal communities in 2006 and 2007, at a total cost of $1.45 million. Each trailer contains several hundred feet of oil containment boom, absorbent pads, anchors and other equipment. Training was provided for local first responders.

Investigators from Ecology and the tribe are still trying to determine how much fuel was spilled from the boat, but it was enough for the tribe to close shellfish harvests on the surrounding beaches for a week. The boat’s owner, who lives out of state, arranged to have it towed away on May 27.

While the Port Gamble Bay spill was relatively minor, McCollum said such incidents are reminders of Puget Sound’s vulnerability to oil spills. He hopes agencies in the region will begin practicing coordinated spill responses so they have more than plans on paper in case of a large disaster.

“You never know when these bigger spills are going to happen,” McCollum said.