By Lisa Matlock
Outreach Coordinator
Over the past two months, Executive Director Mark Swanson and I have been traveling as part of the council’s community outreach program to a good number of our downstream communities. The term “downstream” was coined after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, when oil spread across more than a thousand miles of coastline in southcentral Alaska, including the southern Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak Island. Because of this, when industry works on contingency planning for safe oil transportation through Prince William Sound, the council regularly speaks up for downstream communities and resources that could be affected by an accident. So it is important for us to visit these communities to hear from these citizens about how our mission connects to their priorities and community needs.
From Mark Swanson
Council Executive Director
Everywhere we turn, we see fiscal belt tightening. State budgets are the leanest we have seen in almost three decades. Federal budgets are also lean.
We all know the conversation around the kitchen table when home finances become tight. When unexpected expenditures exceed projected revenue, something’s got to give. We ask ourselves what’s needed and what’s discretionary. The house looks like it needs paint but maybe that could wait a year. Can we delay without incurring expensive damage to increasingly exposed wood? Can we get another year or two out of those already four year old tires without risking an expensive or dangerous accident?
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s Vessel of Opportunity Program recently received a 2015 Alaska Ocean Leadership Award by the Alaska SeaLife Center. Alyeska received the Stewardship & Sustainability Award, which honors an industry leader that demonstrates the highest commitment to sustainability of ocean resources. The award was presented to Alyeska leadership at the Alaska Marine Gala on February 21 in Anchorage.
