2010-2011 Annual Report
Letter from the Executive Director
This has been a very dramatic and exciting year for the council. Far and away the most significant event was the passage of the U.S. Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2010, which contained a provision that will preserve the system of dual escort tugs for loaded oil tankers in Prince William Sound.
The citizens' council has long recognized the importance of this system for preventing disasters like the Exxon Valdez spill of 1989. While working to ensure we have solid and well-practiced response measures in place is important, ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place to aid in the prevention of another spill is perhaps the most important task the council can focus on.
The Prince William Sound escort system was developed by the oil industry in concert with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and the council. The tugs can rescue tankers in danger of groundings or other types of accidents, and they can also begin oil spill response should the worst happen.
Though the escorts have sometimes been characterized as unnecessary, they have proved their worth many times since the Exxon Valdez spill by providing assistance to tankers in distress. Thanks in considerable part to the escort tugs and this federal legislation, Prince William Sound has and will continue to have one of the safest marine oil transportation systems in the world.
Also on the prevention side of things, this year we embarked on a major advisory audit of the Valdez Marine Terminal. A series of failures, accidents and near misses on the trans-Alaska pipeline in 2009 and 2010 precipitated this comprehensive examination of the maintenance practices at the terminal by experts in the field. The council and our contractors have received excellent cooperation from Alyeska on this audit and we look forward to sharing the results with the company and providing recommendations as appropriate to maximize safety at the terminal.
In terms of response preparedness, this year also saw the significant examination of various elements of the response plans for terminal and for the oil tankers that use it.
In the fall of 2010, the council staff assisted in pre-planning and in providing observers and evaluators in support of the environmental conservation department in conducting two no-notice drills of response plans for tanker spills. These were intended to review the industry's ability to muster sufficient personnel to manage the early hours of an oil spill response and to conduct a multi-day exercise of near-shore response activities. Both exercises were extraordinarily insightful, providing an opportunity for all parties to examine what was working and to identify areas requiring further attention.
In the spring of 2011, following significant work on the issues identified in the fall drills, the council assisted the state, the Coast Guard and the companies in observing and evaluating two additional follow up drills.
While much remains to be addressed, both spring exercises showed a marked improvement in response preparedness. The council applauds the industry, the regulators, and the exercise participants for stepping up with the time, energy and resources needed to address some long-standing response preparedness issues in these areas.
Also of note, this year two of our staff members, Joseph Banta and Linda Robinson, reached remarkable milestones: twenty years of employment with the council in service to our mission of "citizens promoting environmentally safe operation of the Alyeska terminal and associated tankers."
There are a few volunteers on our board and technical committees who were involved at the inception of the council and still serve the organization today, but I believe Joe and Linda hold the record for continuous involvement. We salute their long and tireless service. In January, the report of the National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling was released. Among the many recommendations in that report is a call for citizens' advisory councils in the Gulf of Mexico and on Alaska's North Slope. The report found that such councils would provide an effective and lasting safeguard against the complacency and systematic lack of critical oversight that precipitated the spill in the Gulf. We agree.
Finally, this past year also entailed a major recertification for the council. The Coast Guard solicits public comments for this process on a triennial basis, and this year we received an unprecedented outpouring of written support from around the region affected by the Exxon Valdez spill and from around the nation. The depth and breadth of that support frankly astounded us. Some 67 letters—all of them positive—were sent, and a record 65 letters arrived by the deadline for entry into the Coast Guard's public docket on our recertification. We are honored and humbled by these expressions of appreciation and this high level of awareness of our work and achievements.
In conclusion, much has been done to reduce the risks of an oil spill in Prince William Sound. With continued ice flow into the shipping channels, continued mechanical reliability issues with aging tankers, and the changing economic and physical conditions resulting from reduced flow rates in the pipeline, we have many challenges to face. The risks of oil transportation in the marine environment and the need for citizens to have an advisory voice in the oversight of those risks remain as clear and compelling today as in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef.
Enjoy this edition of our annual report, follow our efforts, and work with us in the coming year as we strive to further reduce the risks of oil spills and to protect Prince William Sound and the rest of the region affected by the Exxon Valdez spill.
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