Community Corner

Valdez community engages with on-water oil spill response training

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Valdez residents watch fishing boats practice pulling oil collection boom during the 2023 tour of Alyeska/SERVS’ oil spill response training. Photo by Dave Janka.

The Council held a tour for locals to observe the annual oil spill response training for fishing vessels in Valdez, Alaska, on May 3, 2023. This has been an annual event since 2016, rotating through several communities in the region, though it was postponed during the height of the COVID pandemic. The Valdez community was invited to join the Council from 12:30 to 3 p.m., on a Stan Stephens Cruises vessel to observe the training.

Valdez High School student Izzy Kizer stated about the event, “We need to know how to prevent [oil spills], but when they do happen, it’s very important to know how to clean them up. Some of these things, they work on a way larger scale than we’re aware of and seeing that helps broaden your perspective.”

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 an oil spill from a Prince William Sound tanker or the Valdez Marine Terminal. SERVS is Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s oil spill removal organization and coordinates annual spill response exercises in multiple Southcentral Alaska communities, including Valdez.

This Council event helps keep communities informed on what oil spill prevention and response measures are in place in Prince William Sound and downstream communities, especially those involving their local fishermen. Valdez residents learned about oil spill response technology, tactics and how this program helps Alyeska operate safely in Prince William Sound. Narrators from both the Council and Alyeska were on board to describe the activities so that participants could better understand the training. We would like to thank our partners, Alyeska/SERVS and Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises, for helping to support this event.

This photo shows three people inside the cabin of the tour boat discussing a piece of an oil skimmer. The piece is a round disc coated in a fuzzy material.
Council staff show a fuzzy disc from a skimmer. The fuzz on the disc is designed to catch more oil than water, which makes it more efficient at collecting oil than traditional skimmers.

”It takes a lot of coordination and cooperation from so many different entities in the community and that’s really fun for the students to see,” said Gilson Middle School teacher Ann Norris. This sentiment was echoed by Mo Radotich, one of several representatives from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation on board the tour. “I think it’s good for us all to get together – from regulatory, industry, RCAC, community members that are here. I think it’s important to see us working together and keep developing those relationships,” said Radotich.

Alyeska’s contracted fishing fleet is the backbone of their oil spill response system. It is essential to the system operating as it was designed to do and part of what makes the Prince William Sound system world-class. These contracted vessels and their crews help ensure the most comprehensive response measures are in place for both open water and nearshore resources. A major lesson of the Exxon Valdez spill was that incorporating local mariners into the spill response system helps ensure a quick, efficient and effective response.

This photo shows
A local fishing vessel practices pulling oil spill boom in formation with an oil spill response barge. Several of these barges are staged in Prince William Sound to be ready in case of a spill.

Since the inception of SERVS after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Council has been highly supportive of local fishermen and mariners being trained annually with the best available technology to prepare for oil spills. Valdez mariners have the most intimate knowledge of, and connection to, the waters in and around Valdez. Their involvement would help protect the most sensitive areas, such as hatcheries and spawning streams, from spilled oil.

“It’s such an integral part of our community. We’re so dedicated to the fishing industry, so protecting that resource is paramount,” said Valdez resident Shannon Day. “It’s important for us as adults to know about this, for the children to be exposed to it, so that they have the same love and dedication as they grow up.”

The Council has held previous fishing vessel oil spill response training tours in Seward, Whittier, Cordova and Homer. The Council hopes that through such programs communities will understand the importance of oil spill prevention and having the most robust response strategies in place in the event of a spill.

“You know what, I’ve lived in Valdez for 21 years, and spent a lot of time in the Sound. Today I learned a lot of stuff about oil spill response and different functions of Alyeska,” said Gilson Middle School principal Rod Morrison. “If we don’t learn about it, there’s a danger that it could happen again. The [Exxon Valdez] oil spill was terrible and some of the precautions we have in place now will help prevent that from happening again, but we also have a great system if it does happen again.”

Community Corner: A new look at old programs

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Maia Draper-Reich

Hello from the new voice here in the Community Corner! Since joining the staff in early August, I have enjoyed launching into and paddling around the vast and deep waters of the Council’s work. I step into the outreach coordinator role with my background as a naturalist, science and environmental educator, dancer, and outreach program manager.

I know the joy of facilitating young people learning about the nature that surrounds them. There is a specific excitement that comes when you help someone make a new connection about a science-based fact. I recognize the importance of clear information leading to an audience’s inspiration, which leads them to action.

As I explore and learn about the Council, I am sparked by the variety of community outreach accomplished and funded throughout the region. The Youth Involvement project stands out. As in years previous, the Council provided funding for educating the youth in our community on topics related to the Council’s mission, such as citizens’ oversight, environmental impacts of the operation of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company oil terminal in Valdez and the oil tankers that call there, oil spill prevention, and response planning and operation. Eight programs were funded this year.

The Council sponsored a new youth track at the Prince William Sound Natural History Symposium this year, put on by the Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation to encourage and engage young people in the Prince William Sound region. These presentations and others from the symposium are available online at the foundation’s website: Prince William Sound Stewardship Foundation – 2022 Symposium

Oil spill prevention and response engineering was taught through the remotely operated vehicles, or ROV challenge at this year’s Tsunami Bowl. This challenge was put on by the Prince William Sound Science Center. Youth Involvement also funded writing a ROV Kit Build-Guide for other educators to teach robotics and Exxon Valdez oil spill history and aftermath. It is available on their website. PWSSC’s R.O.V. Kit Build-Guide: How to build a simple remotely operated vehicle for classroom use

Among the rest are oil spill education for students via the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies and the Copper River Watershed Project, and for teachers during Alaska Geographic’s Kenai Fjords Floating Teacher Workshop and Prince William Sound College’s Ecology for Teachers course.

The Youth Involvement projects are indicative of the many modes of community outreach that are important to share the Council’s mission and the varied work of the staff and committees. Each connection the community of volunteers, staff, and partners make with the Council’s audiences – be it the member communities and groups, the greater scientific community, oil industry and regulators, or the citizens of the region affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill – is a paddle dipping into the water and pushing the Council’s metaphorical kayak forward.

I look forward to continuing to tell the story of the spill, foster the network of organizations doing oil spill prevention and response education, and to inviting learners of all ages to understand their environment. As always, our goal remains to continue the Council’s mission through engaging our community members in meaningful experiences and inspiring new and long-time environmental stewards.

Oliver moves on; Long-time volunteers honored

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By Betsi Oliver
Outreach Coordinator

During nearly four years at the Council as Outreach Coordinator, I have experienced a depth of volunteer commitment that I will continue to value as a model for citizen engagement.

Each committee member volunteers an estimated forty hours per year, including preparing for and attending meetings. Board members volunteer at least a hundred hours annually preparing for and attending several multi-day meetings per year. In addition, many Board members serve on committees, and many committee members contribute countless additional hours on project teams guiding specific work outcomes. In the past few years, this has meant lots of videoconference time, for which we are especially grateful.

Although my path diverges here, I cherish the relationships I’ve built and the accomplishments of the Council I’ve witnessed. The toughest accomplishment to measure is always prevention – the lack of disaster that affirms the value of time, effort, and dollars spent, often behind the scenes, to keep our system robust. Thank you to all the folks investing your valuable time and expertise. You are indeed the citizens of the citizens’ advisory council.

Volunteers honored

At its Board meeting each May, the Council honors its volunteers that have reached a 5-year milestone.
The following have dedicated extraordinary time and effort to help protect Alaskans from another major oil spill:

  • Gordon Scott honored for 30 years of service on the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Committee
  • Jane Eisemann honored for 20 years of service, formerly as a Board member and on several committees, currently serving on the Information and Education Committee
  • Dorothy Moore honored for 15 years of service as a Board member and on several committees
  • President Robert Archibald and Oliver present a memento to Bauer for her 10 years of service.

    Amanda Bauer honored for 10 years of service as a Board member and on several committees

  • Harold Blehm honored for 10 years of service on the Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring Committee
  • Orson Smith honored for 10 years of service, formerly as a Board member and several committees, recently retired from the Port Operations and Vessel Traffic Systems Committee
  • Wei Cheng honored for 5 years of service on the Scientific Advisory Committee

Council mourns loss of Anchorage staffer

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Natalie Novik, administrative assistant for the Anchorage office, passed away in October 2021, after a two-year battle with cancer. Natalie joined Council staff in June 2014.

Born and educated in Paris, Natalie was proud of her Breton and Russian roots. She dedicated much of her life to oil spill prevention and response in Alaska and internationally.

She volunteered to help clean up after multiple oil spills that plagued Brittany starting in the 1970s. When the Exxon Valdez spill occurred, Natalie was teaching in New York and already planning to move to Alaska.

In Alaska, Natalie spent 13 years with Northern Forum, a nonprofit group created to improve communications and cooperation in northern regions. In that role she supported providing ongoing know-how and assistance related to the 1994 pipeline spill in the Komi Republic in Russia. As part of Northern Forum’s program on disaster management in the North and the Arctic, Natalie was in charge of relations with the Arctic Council.

Years before joining the Council’s staff, she provided translation and interpretation between the Council and Sydicat Mixte Vigipol, a citizen governance group created after the Amoco Cadiz ran aground in 1978 on the Brittany coast. Natalie also worked two years for Ecoshelf on Sakhalin Island in Russia, translating contracts and documents related to oil spill prevention, monitoring, and response.

Natalie was an advocate for residents of northern regions and cross-cultural engagement in many ways. She worked for the Alaska Native Science Commission’s community self-reliance project from 2012-2013, and the World Trade Centers Association immediately before joining the Council’s staff. From 2009-2014, she served as Honorary Consul of France in Alaska. She was a devoted volunteer for the Celtic Community of Alaska, where she was still serving as president until she passed.

Natalie was very proud of her work with the Council and was a true believer in our mission. She provided vast contributions to the Council’s robust archives, directly supporting the success of many projects that rely on historical knowledge. She firmly believed in the value of gathering and connecting in person, and poured attention into every detail for the annual Science Night event, volunteer workshop, and holiday party.

Natalie left behind her beloved cat Sashka (who has been adopted by a friend), many friends and colleagues, and memories of her sense of humor, caring, creativity, and passion. When Natalie applied for her position at the Council, she summed up her career thusly: “curious and creative individuals will go through life learning new skills and enriching their potential.”

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