Results from the Council’s efforts to monitor the long-term environmental impacts of the operation of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s Valdez Marine Terminal and associated tankers since the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown oil contamination in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska has reached all-time low values. The Council has been conducting environmental monitoring since 1993.
Alyeska and its owner companies have implemented several improvements over the years which have contributed to the reduction of pollutants being discharged. These include the elimination of single-hulled tankers and Alyeska’s ability to effectively operate their Ballast Water Treatment Facility which removes oil contamination from tanker ballast water.
Legislation includes enhancements supported by Prince William Sound RCAC
The Council delegation meets with Sen. Dan Sullivan. Left to Right: Joe Lally, Mako Haggerty, Robert Archibald, Amanda Bauer, Sen. Dan Sullivan, Donna Schantz, Rebecca Skinner
Monday, the day after the 30th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Sen. Dan Sullivan introduced in the United States Senate legislation entitled the “Spill Response and Prevention Surety Act.” This bill would reinstitute the financing rate for the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, establish a floor and ceiling for the Fund so as to ensure availability of funding resources to help respond to oil spills in all 50 States, provide for prevention funding grants and make other improvements to the Fund.
A delegation of Board members and staff from the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council is currently in Washington, DC and provided a preliminary response to Sen. Sullivan on this very encouraging development. The trip is an annual visit for meetings on Capitol Hill, with the U.S. Coast Guard, with federal agencies that comprise the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research, the State of Alaska, and the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company.
As a citizens’ organization authorized by statute after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Council had previously expressed to Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Rep. Don Young and other members of the House and Senate strong support for congressional authorization for certain important and needed improvements to the Fund. It was therefore very encouraging for Council representatives to see this bill introduced in the Senate. While visiting Sen. Sullivan at the Capitol yesterday, the Council expressed their appreciation for his work on this bill.
Council representatives are hopeful that the bill will be considered soon in the Senate and House, supported strongly across the nation, acted upon and enacted during this session of the 116th Congress. Council representatives in Washington intend to ensure the full membership of the Council, spanning the entire Exxon Valdez oil spill region, will be briefed on the bill once they return to Alaska later this week. The Council will then be able to provide Congress the organization’s views regarding any potential further recommended improvements to the bill as introduced for consideration.
The financing rate expired at the end of December 2018. It is therefore important that action be taken soon to reauthorize the financing rate and to make the other needed improvements to the Fund for the protection of navigable waters in every state, fish and wildlife and their habitats, local, state and regional economies and for the environment.
The Council delegation meeting with congressional leaders in Washington this week included Amanda Bauer, president, representing the City of Valdez; Rebecca Skinner, Board member, representing the Kodiak Island Borough; Robert Archibald, Board member, representing the City of Homer; Mako Haggerty, Board member representing the Kenai Peninsula Borough; Donna Schantz, executive director; and Joe Lally, director of programs.
For more information, contact Brooke Taylor at 907-277-7222.
Two of the new Edison Chouest tugs and an oil spill support barge participated in the training.
The Council held its fourth annual fishing vessel oil spill response training tour in Whittier, Alaska, on September 25, 2018. The Whittier community was invited to join the council from 11:30 to 1:30 p.m., on a Stan Stephens Cruises vessel to observe the training. Over 60 members of the public participated in the event, including 25 students from Whittier Community School.
Whittier student Abi, 16, stated about the event, “It matters because it keeps our oceans clean and helps keep people knowledgeable about how to respond to the spills. I might want to do it when I get old enough.”
The local fishermen participating in the training are contracted by the Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, also known as SERVS, to respond in the event of a Prince William Sound tanker or Valdez Marine Terminal oil spill. SERVS is Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s oil spill response organization and coordinates annual oil spill response exercises in multiple Southcentral Alaska communities, including Whittier.
The Council voted unanimously on January 18, 2018, to pass a resolution stating that oil tankers and escort vessels should not be permitted to transit through Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska in weather conditions which have been determined by industry to be unsafe for training.
The resolution was prompted by the upcoming change in marine service contract providers by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, including crude oil tanker escort vessel services, effective July 2018. Council executive director Donna Schantz stated, “The oil tanker escort system in Prince William Sound is an essential oil spill prevention measure that is vital to reducing the risk of another catastrophic event, such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.”
“If it is unsafe to train personnel, it is unsafe to transport oil,” said Council Board president Amanda Bauer. “This position does not just apply to the incoming contractor, but sets the standard to which the council feels all future new contractors, equipment and crews should be held. We believe strongly that these standards are needed to ensure the economic and environmental safety of the communities and groups we represent.”
Results from the Council’s efforts to monitor the long-term environmental impacts of the operation of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s Valdez Marine Terminal and associated tankers since the Exxon Valdez oil spill have shown oil contamination in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska has reached all-time low values. The Council has been conducting environmental monitoring since 1993.
