By LINDA SWISS
Council Project Manager
The current Valdez Marine Terminal Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan, set to expire this past May, has been extended to December 9, 2013.
This plan, created and managed by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, describes how the company would contain and clean up oil spilled from the terminal in Valdez. The plan is reviewed and updated every five years.
The proposed plan, submitted by Alyeska to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in October, contained a large number of changes, including being reformatted into four separate volumes. This short-term extension will allow the plan renewal process to continue until the department has conducted a thorough review. The agency has asked Alyeska to provide additional information on several areas of the plan. The council will have an opportunity to provide input to the department during this information-exchange phase.
Once that information is provided, the official public review will proceed. The council expects to submit final comments during the public review.