The council has three interns, two college and one high school, hard at work on projects this spring.
Month: January 2016
Long-time employee appointed as head of council
The council announced at its January 22 meeting that Director of Programs Donna Schantz has been promoted to the position of executive director. Schantz replaces Mark Swanson, who retired from the council in November of last year. Since then, Schantz has served as acting executive director.
“The council is very fortunate to have someone with Donna’s organizational knowledge and history to lead us into the future,” said Amanda Bauer, president of the council board. “I am confident her commitment to our mission and her positive attitude will significantly strengthen relationships within the council, as well as with our industry and regulatory partners, as these relationships are a critical component to achieving our mission.”
Jeremy Talbott: A life on the water inspires stewardship of the sea
Volunteer Spotlight:
Jeremy Talbott, member of the council’s Port Operations and Vessel Traffic System Committee, is enthusiastic about his new hometown. He moved to Valdez with his wife Keri and their two daughters in May of 2014 to become the new harbormaster for the city.
“I didn’t even know where Valdez was,” Talbot said. “But it was in Alaska.”
Talbott had dreamed of moving to Alaska for a while. He applied for the Homer Harbormasters job several years ago, and later almost got a position in Juneau as Harbormaster. Talbott was disappointed, but Juneau’s port director told him about the opening in Valdez.
“In hindsight, I’m really glad I got Valdez instead of Juneau,” he says. “I love it. I hit the lottery.”
Board of directors meeting held in Anchorage on January 21 and 22
The council’s board of directors met January 21 and 22 at the Embassy Suites in Anchorage.
Topics on the agenda included:
- A presentation by the Alaska Tanker Company on how they are addressing requirements and technology related to federal ballast water regulations.
- A presentation by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation on their efforts to comply with the State Legislature’s intent, as outlined in the operating budget, that a plan be developed to reduce costs for the state and private entities related to oil spill response drills and exercises.
- Approval of a report that describes major new advances in technologies designed to detect the genetic effects of hydrocarbons in mussels.
- Consideration of a resolution in support of the installation of an independently operated weather station at the Valdez Marine Terminal to provide real-time wind and wave data to the public.
- A presentation on recent rulemaking related to oil spill limits of liability under the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.