Board Resolutions

Recognizing the 30th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill

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Resolution 19-01:

Recognizing the 30th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, supporting high standards and safeguards for the Valdez Marine Terminal and associated tankers, and continued work to create the best response system possible should prevention measures fail

Floating oil spill boom from Exxon Valdez oil spill
Tangled boom from the 1989 cleanup. Photo by Charles Ehler, courtesy of Alaska Resource Library & Information Services.

Whereas, on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef and spilled an estimated 11 million gallons of crude oil and oiling some 1,300 miles of Alaska coastline;

Whereas, March 24, 2019, marks 30 years since this disaster;

Whereas, Congress determined that complacency on the part of industry and government was a contributing factor in the accident and mandated citizen involvement in the oversight of crude oil terminals and tankers;

Whereas, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, an independent non-profit corporation whose mission, as mandated by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, is to promote environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal and associated tankers;

Whereas, the Council represents communities, commercial fishing, aquaculture, Alaska Native, recreation, tourism, and environmental organizations in the region adversely impacted by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill;

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Council issues position on safe crude oil tanker transit and escort vessel operation in the Sound

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The Council voted unanimously on January 18, 2018, to pass a resolution stating that oil tankers and escort vessels should not be permitted to transit through Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska in weather conditions which have been determined by industry to be unsafe for training.

The resolution was prompted by the upcoming change in marine service contract providers by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, including crude oil tanker escort vessel services, effective July 2018. Council executive director Donna Schantz stated, “The oil tanker escort system in Prince William Sound is an essential oil spill prevention measure that is vital to reducing the risk of another catastrophic event, such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.”

“If it is unsafe to train personnel, it is unsafe to transport oil,” said Council Board president Amanda Bauer. “This position does not just apply to the incoming contractor, but sets the standard to which the council feels all future new contractors, equipment and crews should be held. We believe strongly that these standards are needed to ensure the economic and environmental safety of the communities and groups we represent.”

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Resolution in support of Exxon Valdez “Reopener for Unknown Injury”

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The council's directors in Kodiak at the September 2015 board meeting.
The council’s directors in Kodiak at the September 2015 board meeting.

On Friday, September 18, 2015, the council’s board of directors unanimously passed a resolution in support of the “Reopener for Unknown Injury” from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Multiple citizens called in during the public comment period to voice their opinions about this important issue.

Media release: Citizens’ Oversight Council calls for Agreement on Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration

Resolution 15-07 – “Supporting Habitat Restoration Pursuant to Damages Caused by the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill – in support of a meeting between the United States, the State of Alaska, Exxon, Inc., and the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council.”

Full text of Resolution 15-07

Supporting Habitat Restoration Pursuant to Damages
Caused by the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

WHEREAS, the Exxon Valdez Settlement Agreement contains a reopener clause allowing the federal or state government to request additional funds from Exxon due to unanticipated remaining oil in the environment and subsequent failure of species to recover within Prince William Sound;

WHEREAS, in 2006, the United States and the State of Alaska presented to Exxon a comprehensive project plan for the cleanup of lingering oil at an estimated cost of $92 million;

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Resolution 15-03: Urging expeditious action by the Governor of Alaska and the Alaska Legislature to amend the existing State Oil and Hazardous Substances Release Prevention and Response Fund

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Photo of the Valdez Duck Flats.Urging expeditious action by the Governor of Alaska and the Alaska Legislature to amend the existing State Oil and Hazardous Substances Release Prevention and Response Fund funding mechanisms and, as may be necessary, to establish requisite ancillary funding mechanisms to support and sustain an adequately robust oil and hazardous substances release prevention and response program.

WHEREAS, the State of Alaska’s Oil and Hazardous Substance Release Prevention and Response Fund (470 Fund) is supported through a 5-cent per barrel surcharge on crude oil production which represents the key funding mechanism for the major components of the State’s oil and hazardous spill prevention and response capabilities; and

WHEREAS, a portion of the 470 Fund is allocated to the “Prevention Account” which is the primary source of operating funds for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s (ADEC’s) Spill Prevention and Response (SPAR) program, the State’s primary oil spill and hazardous substances oversight, monitoring and readiness program; and

WHEREAS, this prevention and response Fund has been intended to allow the ADEC to have adequate funds to immediately respond to major spills while maintaining an effective program to prevent such spills, without the need for, nor the delay inherently involved with annual appropriations from general revenue; and

WHEREAS, with the recent decline in oil production within the State, the size of the income to the 470 Fund has diminished thereby seriously impairing the ability of State government to prevent oil and hazardous substances releases, maintain a necessary level of response readiness and to adequately respond should there be such a release; and

WHEREAS, in recent years, the SPAR program’s responsibilities have been substantially expanded while at the same time SPAR funding has been reduced thereby placing the public and Alaska’s natural resources and the marine and terrestrial environment as well as the health, safety, economic and social well- being of Alaskans at greater risk of injury from oil and hazardous substances releases; and

WHEREAS, a number of possible ways to address this problem and to adequately fund the SPAR program have been suggested, including broadening the funding sources and inflation-proofing the 470 Fund, such as: (1) increasing the per-barrel charge on oil produced in the state; (2) adjusting the cap of the Response Fund from the current $50 million to the range of $70-$90 million; (3) placing a temporary surcharge on fuels such as diesel, gasoline, and heating oil; (4) collect revenue from non-oil industries that are served by the SPAR Division but do not currently contribute to the Fund; (5) requiring a modest application fee for oil spill contingency plans similar to such fees that are required for air quality plans; and (6) curbing diversions of funds to non-oil and hazardous substance release related purposes such as municipal maintenance, etc.; and

WHEREAS, the State Executive and Legislative branches working together have the full capability to rectify this serious problem;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Members of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council from communities across the entire Exxon Valdez oil spill region respectfully urge the Governor of Alaska and the Alaska State Legislature to amend the existing State Oil and Hazardous Substances Release Prevention and Response Fund funding mechanism, and to establish ancillary funding mechanisms, necessary to (1) adequately support the prevention of oil and hazardous substances releases and (2) provide adequate response and clean-up capabilities to effectively deal with such releases into the Alaska marine or terrestrial environments should they occur.

PASSED AND APPROVED, by the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council on this 22 day of January, 2015.

Resolution 15-03: Urging expeditious action by the Governor of Alaska and the Alaska Legislature to amend the existing State Oil and Hazardous Substances Release Prevention and Response Fund

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