Joe Lally

Joe joined the Council’s staff in March 2018. Joe served the Coast Guard for 27 years, most recently as Compliance and Analysis Division Chief at the Coast Guard’s headquarters in Washington, D.C, and previously served as Commanding Officer of the Marine Safety Unit in Valdez from June 2014 through July 2017.

Joe has an extensive background in oil spill/hazardous substance response and prevention, including federal policy writing, conducting marine inspections and investigations, and leading emergency responses as the federal on-scene coordinator.

While working with the Coast Guard, he worked with agency and industry partners, and non-governmental organizations to enhance marine safety, prevention, preparedness, and response nationwide. Joe helped investigate the 2012 grounding of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy, and conducted oversight of environmental responses to the 2007 Cosco Busan spill, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in 2010. He was a first responder who assisted with the evacuation of Manhattan after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Joe earned a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Saint Joseph’s University and a Master of Science in environmental and energy management from George Washington University. Joe and his wife, Donna, and their three daughters, live in Valdez.