The Council works to educate Exxon Valdez region youth about the environmentally safe operation of the Alyeska terminal and associated tankers. Working with area youth is vital to fight complacency that can arise if new generations of citizens are not continually reminded of the need for ongoing oil spill prevention.
To support this effort, the Council invites proposals for facilitating learning experiences with Exxon Valdez oil spill region youth. Youth in this case can include students from K-12 formal education, homeschool students, informal education programs, and either formal or informal college-level education. In the past, the PWSRCAC has also sponsored projects for teachers that benefit area youth.
Please note that the deadline has passed and we are not accepting proposals at this time. Please contact Outreach Coordinator Maia Draper-Reich at education@pwsrcac.org if you would like to be notified when the next proposal period opens.
Projects should result in better understanding of such topics 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, and/or other topics related to the Council’s mission.
Past and ongoing projects have included:
youth stewardship expeditions into the marine environment via sea kayak and other vessels
youth monitoring for aquatic invasive species
public oil spill science discovery labs
oil spill science and technology outreach
oil spill education website development
K-12 oil spill curriculum writing and testing
travel funding for youth presenting oil spill projects at conferences
oral history projects related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill
other marine stewardship programs for students with an oil spill connection
There are two deadlines each year to submit proposals for educational project funding. You may subscribe to our email list for new Requests for Proposals to receive notifications when these are issued by the Council.
Members of the public watch vessels practice pulling oil spill boom in proper formation. This formation would be used to collect oil during an oil spill.
The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council held a tour for locals to observe the annual oil spill response training for fishing vessels in Whittier, Alaska, on Sept. 30, 2024. 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-19 pandemic. The Whittier community was invited to join the council from 11:30 to 2 p.m., on a Stan Stephens Cruises vessel to observe the training. Over 90 members of the public participated in the event, including students from the Whittier Community School.
Whittier resident, Chase, age 12, stated about the event, “There are so many people participating and wanting to learn on this boat, learning about this to help protect our environment. Plus watching all those boats do their job in helping protect the environment. I think it’s pretty cool.”
The local fishermen and women 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 Whittier.
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 fishers. Whittier 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.
“I think that’s very cool for [students] to see people from their community taking part in an activity like this,” said Whittier school teacher Jennifer Childress. “Knowing what a special and important place Prince William Sound is, it’s important to have people be trained and ready to go in case an awful event like an oil spill happens. To have local people involved in that and as a teacher to have students see that they could have a place in that and be a part of that as they get older, is very important.”
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 oil spill response measures are in place for both open water and nearshore resources. A major lesson of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was that incorporating local mariners into the spill response system helps ensure a quick, efficient and effective response.
Since the inception of SERVS after the Exxon Valdez spill, the Council has been highly supportive of local fishers and mariners being trained annually with the best available technology to prepare for oil spills. Whittier mariners have the most intimate knowledge of, and connection to, the waters in and around Whittier. Their involvement would help protect the most sensitive areas, such as hatcheries and spawning streams, from spilled oil.
Whittier school student, Ana, 12, said about the event, “I think it’s good to protect our marine wildlife and [this event] creates awareness.”
The Council has held previous fishing vessel oil spill response training tours in Valdez, Seward, 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.
”It’s especially important for local fishing vessels to participate in the system,” said Kathy Shea, one of several representatives from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s Spill Prevention and Response Division on board the tour. “They know the water, they’re out here fishing on a regular basis and they rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. They want to pass down a clean environment to their families in the future, so having them on our team is hugely advantageous for spill response.”
Additional photos are available for use on request by contacting Brooke Taylor at brooke.taylor@pwsrcac.org or 907-301-3784.
The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, with offices in Anchorage and Valdez, is a federally mandated, independent nonprofit corporation whose mission is to promote the environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal and the oil tankers that use it. The council’s work is guided by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and its contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The council’s member organizations are communities in the region affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as commercial fishing, aquaculture, Alaska Native, recreation, tourism and environmental groups.
The Council held three events in Kodiak on Wednesday through Friday, September 18-20, 2024, including the Council’s annual board meeting, a youth education event and a public reception.
The Council conducted regular business during the meeting, including updates from Council ex officio members, staff and committees. Other topics included on the agenda were:
An activity report by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on the Valdez Marine Terminal and Ship Escort Response Vessel System operations, including an update on Alyeska’s efforts to address concerns identified in the Council’s report “Assessment of Risks and Safety Culture at Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal.”
A presentation by representatives from Repsol, partners with Santos, on the Pikka Project as it will relate to the Valdez Marine Terminal.
A report on describing a hotspot analysis of marine bird survey data conducted in Prince William Sound during March 2007-2014 and 2018-2023.
A summary of data analyzed from the Council’s weather buoys located near the Valdez Marine Terminal and Valdez Duck Flats.
Information on the Council’s ongoing review of the pilot testing to identify methods to evaluate the secondary containment liners at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
An update on a major amendment on the Prince William Sound Tanker Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan, approved in June 2024.
A report on a broadscale survey of non-indigenous marine species across Prince William Sound, conducted in summer 2023.
A presentation on an ongoing Council project to examine miscommunication in maritime contexts.
Anyone exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, flu, or cold should attend virtually.
Council board meetings are routinely recorded and may be disseminated to the public by the Council or by the news media.
After retiring from piloting, Terpening spent a few years commercial fishing out of Bristol Bay with his son.
A teenage Gordon Terpening grew up watching ships navigating in and out of San Francisco Bay, and knew early on exactly what he wanted to do after high school.
“Once I heard about what a ship’s pilot did, I decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
After graduating from the California Maritime Academy with a Bachelor’s in Nautical Science, Terpening realized these ambitions and went to sea. His first job, towing lumber out of Coos Bay, Oregon, was just the beginning. He’s been involved in the maritime industry in one way or another ever since. Turns out he was one of the lucky humans who get to love their life’s work.
“I’m a sea going guy,” he says. The combination of peaceful and exciting fit him perfectly.
“Going to sea is basically hours and hours of boredom broken up by moments of sheer terror.”
Over the years, Terpening has piloted vessels around the U.S. and the world. It’s not just the locations that varied, it’s the type of work. He’s worked on a seagoing dredge doing underwater excavation, provided ocean transportation for the Navy as a civilian in the Military Sealift Command, on board tankers in the Far East, hauled jet fuel around the world, and supplied and towed oil rigs near Trinidad and Tobago.
“Generally, it was always so rough off the east coast of Trinidad,” Terpening says. “The trade winds are blowing from the east and the current from South America is flowing north, so you’re always in the trough.”
“This was before the Amoco Cadiz in France and before the Brayer in Shetland, and so the big spills were kind of yet to come.”
These experiences fine-tuned his skills at handling boats and trained him well for his years as a vessel pilot in Alaska.
Terpening says piloting in some other parts of the world, in and out of the same port day after day, can seem dull in comparison.
“When you’re a pilot in southwestern Alaska, all the ports are all different, and they all have their own problems,” he says. “And you get to see the wildest parts of Alaska. I loved it.”
Terpening describes how he analyzed the approach to each port, evaluating the forces such as wind, waves, and propulsion that are acting on the ship.
“It’s kind of like constantly drawing vector diagrams in your head,” he says. “That’s what I see when I’m docking a ship. It’s all just math.”
Terpening says he’s happy to be able to use these varied experiences to contribute to the work of the Council’s Port Operation and Vessel Traffic System Committee. He thinks that the Council’s independent oversight, as mandated by the U.S. Congress, makes a big difference.
“I try to tell other people about how amazing I think this committee is,” Terpening says. He pointed out a Council report on “messenger lines” as an example.
Passing a messenger line is the first step in setting up a tow line between a tug and a tanker in distress. The lighter weight messenger line helps responders connect the heavy tow lines. In 2020, the Council studied the best methods and tools for passing these lines between vessels. Little research had been done on the topic before.
“I mean that is amazing stuff that nobody would do unless you had the funding and the wherewithal of a committee like ours.”
Gordon Terpening is a member of the Council’s Port Operations and Vessel Traffic Systems Committee. The committee monitors port and tanker operations in Prince William Sound.
