Articles from the July issue of The Observer newsletter are now online.
A fishing vessel pulls oil spill boom during a recent drill.
1. Industry and council test spill response plans during drill On June 12 and 13, an oil spill drill conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and hosted by Alyeska tested oil spill contingency plans for the Valdez Marine Terminal. During the drill, the council put aspects of its own internal spill readiness plan to the test.
Read more: Industry and council test spill response plans during drill
2. Citizens’ advisory council for Gulf of Mexico holds first meeting Representatives from U.S. states bordering the Gulf of Mexico met May 30 in New Orleans to “move forward with the establishment of a Gulf of Mexico Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council,” according to a press release from the group.
Read more: Citizens’ advisory council for Gulf of Mexico holds first meeting
3. Council staffer Linda Robinson retires after 23 years with the council Linda Robinson retired from the council in June, after 23 years of dedication to the council and its mission. Read more from Linda in her final Community Corner column.
Read more: Council staffer Linda Robinson retires after 23 years with the council
A fishing vessel pulls oil spill boom during a recent drill.
On June 12 and 13, an oil spill drill conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and hosted by Alyeska tested oil spill contingency plans for the Valdez Marine Terminal. During the drill, the council put aspects of its own internal spill readiness plan to the test.
The fictional drill scenario involved a power outage at the Valdez Marine Terminal, a ruptured line leading to one of the loading berths, and a spill of 90,000 barrels of Alaska North Slope crude oil from the rupture into the Port of Valdez. The spill’s trajectory, or the direction of movement of the oil, was deliberately routed towards the city of Valdez so that the city could participate. This allowed drill participants to exercise aspects of the contingency plans related to crude oil vapors and air monitoring, staffing of the city emergency operation center, and a simulated evacuation of the city.
The first day’s activities were centered in the command post in Valdez and were entirely tabletop, meaning no equipment was deployed. The second day of the exercise consisted of field deployments with open water and nearshore oil recovery efforts, as well as protection of two nearby “sensitive areas”; the Solomon Gulch Hatchery and Duck Flats area in Valdez. Sensitive areas are locations that have been pre-identified as particularly sensitive to an oil spill due to their biological or cultural importance, or areas that would be difficult to clean up or remediate.
In addition to observing the drill, the council took the opportunity to conduct an internal exercise to test communications between the staff, the board of directors and committee volunteers. Along with spill response monitoring, communication with local stakeholders and parties of interest would be a key duty for the council during a real event.
Through the years, council has developed an internal response plan which gives staff guidance on what to do in case of a large spill or incident. This plan includes detailed job descriptions and task checklists. By working aspects of this plan, staff was able to practice, document lessons learned, note necessary updates and make changes. The last time the plan was revised was 2010.
The council also simulated launching its science response plan. This science plan, developed by the council’s science committee, is a pre-established guide for quickly increasing environmental monitoring after a large oil spill.
Council staff contacted volunteers and science contractors by phone and used a blog and email to disseminate information during the drill. Costs for travel, contractor service fees, and other expenses were estimated to help validate how much funding the council needs in reserve to cover initial expenses during a spill.
The council plans to practice this internal response plan on a yearly basis as a training opportunity, and also to further fine tune the plan.
Representatives from U.S. states bordering the Gulf of Mexico met May 30 in New Orleans to “move forward with the establishment of a Gulf of Mexico Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council,” according to a press release from the group.
The group says they are modeling themselves after the councils in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, formed after the Exxon Valdez oil disaster in 1989.
Similar to the Valdez spill, oil industry and government complacency has been cited as underlying causes of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010.
“Our goal is to learn from lessons of the past and prepare for the future,” said Drew Landry, a native of Louisiana and one of the coordinators of the meeting.
In August of 1990, shortly after moving to Anchorage from Dillingham in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska, I was hired part time to assist the one employee that worked for then Executive Director, Sheila Gottehrer.
When Linda started working for the council, the first logo was an eye overseeing a tanker.
My duties were mainly administrative tasks, such as answering the phone, organizing meetings and taking notes. I also ordered furniture and portable computers (called “luggables” at that time), trained volunteers how to use the computers and handled the finances, among other duties.
We started out in the Key Bank building on 5th Avenue in Anchorage but later moved to 2nd Avenue, across from the start of the Coastal Trail. Now, of course, our office is located in beautiful downtown Spenard.
After working as the financial manager for a few years, I became the council’s outreach coordinator. This position allowed me to spread the word about citizen oversight not only in our region and at conferences all over the U.S., but also in the form of presentations in Murmansk, Russia; at the Arctic Marine Oilspill Program conference in Canada; and for Vigipol, a French citizen oversight organization created after the Amoco Cadiz oil spill, at an event commemorating the 25th anniversary of that spill. Our Vigipol friends have visited Alaska twice and we are still in communication with them.
In 2010, Linda Robinson, standing, helped facilitate meetings between citizens who had been affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and Alaskans who were impacted by the Exxon Valdez spill.
After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, three groups of citizens from the Gulf of Mexico region visited Alaska to acquire information on forming its own citizen oversight group. I had the pleasure of being their guide while they were in Alaska. In turn, I volunteered to spend time in the Gulf of Mexico talking about citizen oversight. We also hosted a group from Kazakstan, who had been provided with funding for a citizen oversight group.
We also produced a film called “Then and Now,” which highlights major improvements in oil spill response in Prince William Sound since the Exxon Valdez spill. The DVD has been widely distributed and was shown at the International Oil Spill Conference.
We had an education committee for a time in the early 1990’s, which dissolved in 1993. I helped reinstate the Information and Education committee after I became full time outreach coordinator. This committee is comprised of teachers, artists, scientists and a couple of techies – a wonderful assortment of enthusiastic and creative people. It has evolved into a very dynamic and productive group.
One goal of the council for many years was to involve youth in our mission. With the support of the Information and Education committee, we now have a strong program that provides funding for projects that support our mission and encourage stewardship of the Prince William Sound environment. The funding has enabled students from Exxon Valdez spill-affected communities to participate in expeditions, field trips, chum salmon incubation projects, and other educational activities. Numerous partnerships with other organizations have been formed through this project.
One successful youth involvement project has taken teachers on expeditions into Prince William Sound. Their experiences enabled them to bring back new information to their students. Our first teacher’s expedition was taught by our own board member Jane Eisemann from Kodiak.
I am very proud of the youth involvement program and am very appreciative to the committee for its support as it has developed.
In 2012, with the help of friends across the U.S., I was honored to nominate Patience Andersen Faulkner who represents Cordova District Fishermen United for the national Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award. She was one of five awardees. As a volunteer, I was able to attend this celebration with her.
At a 2012 conference, Linda shows a poster about the council’s science projects to Sue Saupe, Director of Science and Research at Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.
In 2009, for the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, we organized a video conference that connected five communities to share in panel discussions in Anchorage and presentations from the other four communities. This event also included an art show titled “Spill: Alaskan Artists Remember” in collaboration with Bunnell Street Gallery in Homer. The theme of the show was the effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After the opening reception, citizens formed a candlelight vigil.
As I leave the council staff, I will take with me many valuable experiences and treasured memories. I have made many great friendships over the years with my coworkers and peers and have been most fortunate to be able to visit and get to know people in all of the communities that are a part of this organization. But what I will perhaps remember and miss most will be the relationships that I have built with volunteers and community members as I represented the council locally, regionally, nationally, and occasionally even internationally.
It has been a remarkable experience. I want to thank past and present volunteers, administrators, and staff for the opportunities you have given me for growth and service. I can only hope my efforts over the past twenty-three years have matched those opportunities.
