The Observer, September 2003

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Council keeps wary eye on TROG trends from the Ballast Water Treatment Facility

The citizens’ council is watching a worrisome uptrend in releases of oil and grease into Prince William Sound from the Ballast Water Treatment Facility at Alyeska’s Valdez tanker terminal.

The hydrocarbon content of the output from the ballast water facility is called Total Recoverable Oil and Gas, or TROG. From 1994 through 2000, TROG releases dropped from about 1 barrel per day to about half a barrel.

At the start of 2001, however, the situation turned around and TROG began increasing, according to a council analysis of records kept by Alyeska. From an average of 0.6 barrels per day in January 2001, TROG rose to an average of 0.93 barrels per day in July of this year.

That’s an increase of just over 50 percent, and it came despite the fact that the amount of water being treated at the facility was declining -- from about 253,000 barrels a day in January 2001 to about 238,000 barrels a day in July 2003.

“It’s something worth watching,” said Tom Kuckertz, the council’s project manager for terminal-related issues. “It’s contrary to what you would expect.”

Even with the increases, TROG levels are not close to exceeding regulatory limits. The main regulatory requirement is that TROG in output from the ballast water facility not produce a visible sheen. At the current throughput of 238,000 barrels of ballast water per day, TROG releases would have to reach an estimated 3-4 barrels per day to produce a sheen, Kuckertz said.

The council has asked Alyeska for an explanation but has not made a major issue of the increases because TROG levels are still well below the regulatory threshold.