The Observer, March 2005

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From the Executive Director: On Valdez anniversary, are escort tugs in peril?

By John Devens, Executive Director

Alaskans have the best tanker escort system on earth in Prince William Sound. Our waters are about as safe from a repeat of the Exxon Valdez spill as is reasonably possible.

But that may not last. Regulators and the oil industry are considering how to scale back the escort system and potentially reduce the margin of safety developed to protect the Sound since 1989.

Each tanker leaving Valdez with North Slope crude is accompanied by two powerful, state-of-the-art tugs. For parts of the trip out of the Sound, one tug is tethered to the tanker’s stern to provide immediate assistance and prevent a disaster if the huge oil carrier should lose a rudder or engine.

Why is this outstanding fleet of escort vessels in jeopardy?

The system owes its existence in part to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which requires two escorts for any single-hull crude carrier in Prince William Sound. The same Act bans single-hull tankers from U.S. waters after 2015, because double-hull tankers are less likely to spill oil in groundings and collisions. In the Sound, the transition to double hulls may be complete as early 2007.

The escort system is threatened because the Oil Pollution Act does not require escorts for double-hull tankers. Up to now, double-hulls have gotten escorts anyway, as required by state-approved contingency plans and by a directive of the Coast Guard in Valdez. But, with the end of the single-hull era in sight, the regulators are considering downsizing the escort system.

That would be a mistake. The council has always supported double escorts and will continue to do so until it can be demonstrated that another alternative would offer equal protection.

Though the new double-hull tankers – with their redundant rudders, controls, and engines – are far superior to the Exxon Valdez and the rest of the single-hull fleet, they are not infallible. Late last year, ConocoPhillips’ new Polar Endeavour suffered a malfunction in one rudder that threw the vessel 12-15 degrees off-course before the problem was corrected.

And the new Alaskan Frontier, a double-hull tanker under charter to BP, was detained or delayed by the Coast Guard on two of its first three voyages into Valdez because of problems with its propulsion system.

As the council board noted in a resolution adopted in December, “it is imprudent to reduce proven prevention programs based solely on improvements in vessel engineering and design.”

Moreover, not all double-hull tankers operating from Valdez are new. Some are approaching 30 years of age and, under federal law, can continue to sail indefinitely. In theory, they could still be plying the Sound on the 60th anniversary of the startup of the trans-Alaska pipeline.

In addition, we must bear in mind that prevention is not the only task of the escort tugs. They are also equipped to begin the response effort if a spill should occur. The need for response vessels close at hand is one reason double-hull tankers have always been escorted through the Sound, even though the Oil Pollution Act doesn’t require it. That need will not end when the last single-hull tanker leaves service.

Finally, let’s remember that two events could dramatically alter operations in Prince William Sound. One would be a big oil strike in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which would lead to a huge increase in tanker traffic. The other would be the construction of a natural gas pipeline to Valdez, which would add a fleet of liquefied gas tankers to the traffic system.

Clearly, this is no time to let our defenses down.

What’s to be done?

State and federal regulators should freeze the present escort requirements until a determination can be made as to whether and how the system can be modified without reducing safety. The bottom line is, any changes should leave us with at least as much protection as we have now.

To do otherwise would be to squander the great gains we’ve made, and the valuable lessons we’ve learned, since the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef sixteen years ago this month.

• John Devens is executive director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.