News Release

Dec. 11, 2001

Citizens' council installs new board members, recognizes volunteers and staffer for service

The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council seated three new board directors at its December quarterly board meeting in Anchorage.

Louis Beaudry of Cordova replaced Bill Lindow as representative of the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation. Carol Giliam of Anchorage replaced Cheryll Heinze as representative of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce. And Mike Williams of Valdez replaced Bill Walker as representative of the city of Valdez.

Patience Andersen Faulkner of Cordova, who represents Cordova District Fishermen United on the board, was elected to the treasurer’s seat. Blake Johnson of Kenai, who represents the Kenai Peninsula Borough, was elected as a Member at Large of the board executive committee.

The board meeting took place Dec. 6-7 at the Hilton Hotel.
At an awards banquet Dec. 6, the council recognized several people for their service to the organization:

Steve Lewis, who represents the city of Seldovia on the council board and is board vice president, was elected Board Member Of The Year and overall Volunteer Of The Year.

Janice Wiegers was elected Volunteer Of The Year from the council's Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring Committee.
Tom Copeland, a board member representing the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition, was elected Volunteer Of The Year from the Oil Spill Prevention/Response Committee.

Bill Conley was elected Volunteer Of The Year from the Port Operations and Vessel Traffic Systems Committee.
Peter Armato was elected Volunteer Of The Year from the Scientific Advisory Committee.

The four standing technical committees advise the council board in its work to combat environmental pollution from oil transportation operations through Prince William Sound.

Ten-year service awards were also given out at the banquet. The honorees were committee volunteers Bob Benda and Bill Conley; former board member and current committee volunteer Michelle Hahn O'Leary; and retired staffer Daphne Jenkins.

The citizens' council is an independent non-profit corporation that promotes environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal and associated tankers. Its work is guided by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and its contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. RCAC's 18 member organizations are communities in the region affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as commercial fishing, aquaculture, Native, recreation, tourism and environmental groups.