The Council’s staff has spent much of the last year working from home. We consider ourselves lucky to have jobs that allow us to continue working so safely during the pandemic.
However, we find ourselves missing our fellow coworkers and volunteers. Our volunteers are not just our colleagues, but also our friends.
In honor of our wonderful volunteers, here are a few of our favorite photos from recent years.
Volunteers Robert Archibald, Patience Andersen Faulkner, and Jerry Brookman with staff members Betsi Oliver and Brooke Taylor at the Alaska Forum on the Environment in February 2019.
The Council wants to specifically honor long-time volunteer George Skladal, (left, with Executive Director Donna Schantz) member of the Council’s Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring Committee. George attended the very first meeting of that committee, over 30 years ago, and he remains an active member to this day. Thank you for your service!
Volunteer Jane Eisemann joined staffer Betsi Oliver and Lynda Giguere in 2018, at the joint booth with the Council’s sister organization, Cook Inlet Regional Citizen’s Advisory Council. Happy retirement, Lynda!
The Coast Guard is using other technologies, such as the Automatic Identification System (AIS) pictured here, to monitor traffic while radar repairs are underway.
Coast Guard planning long-term project to replace entire system
Radar that helps the U.S. Coast Guard monitor vessels in Port Valdez is undergoing repairs.
This radar is part of the Coast Guard’s Vessel Traffic Service, or VTS, which monitors and manages vessel traffic movements in busy waterways such as Prince William Sound. Three radar sites across Prince William Sound relay information to Valdez, where the data is integrated with other technologies onto an electronic display.
All three sites have struggled to stay online recently because of the harsh Alaska environment coupled with normal wear and tear. The Coast Guard plans to have at least one radar at each of the three sites operational by September 2021.
Planning for further upgrades
U.S. Coast Guard Commander Patrick Drayer joined a Council meeting in January to report that the Coast Guard’s long-term plan is to develop plans to upgrade all of the VTS radar systems nationwide. The Coast Guard will begin an in-depth review starting this summer to help plan these upgrades. The timeline and cost for replacement is not yet known as it is still early in the planning process.
Meanwhile, the Coast Guard is monitoring the Sound using other technologies. While other technologies serve valuable roles, the Council does not believe that other technologies can adequately replace the surveillance and collision avoidance capabilities that modern radar provides.
The Council is planning a review to better understand how these technologies work together to prevent accidents and potential oil spills.
One of the Polar Endeavour’s ballast water tanks was damaged during the incident. The Endeavour, seen here participating in a 2009 towing exercise, is undergoing repairs.
Just before midnight on January 11, the escort tug Courageous allided with the tanker Polar Endeavour, which had just finished loading crude oil at Berth 4 at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
An “allision” occurs when a moving vessel comes in contact with a stationary object or vessel.
A “collision” occurs when both objects or vessels are moving when contact occurred.
The Courageous is owned and operated by Edison Chouest Offshore, the contractor who provides spill prevention and response services for Alyeska.
The tug was approaching the fully loaded tanker to assist the tanker as it prepared for departure. The tug struck the hull of the Endeavour, damaging a ballast water tank. Some of that ballast water was released into Port Valdez. The Endeavour carries crude oil in cargo tanks that are separate from the ballast water tanks, so there was no oil in the damaged tank and none was spilled.
ConocoPhillips, the company that owns the Endeavour, made temporary repairs onsite. The U.S. Coast Guard inspected the tanker and approved it to sail to Long Beach, California, for permanent repairs.
One mariner aboard the Courageous received minor injuries and is expected to fully recover.
The U.S. Coast Guard is still conducting its investigation, however initial reports indicate it appears that the incident was caused by human error.
At the January meeting of the Council’s Board of Directors, Alyeska noted several remedial actions, including restricting the use of autopilot in certain areas and clarifying standing orders.
The Council is tracking this incident and the subsequent changes and will provide advice on how to prevent a similar incident in the future.
Please note that this is corrected pie chart. A previous version showed ExxonMobil’s ownership at approximately 30% and ConocoPhillips at 21%.
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska has issued a final approval in the sale of BP’s Alaska assets to Hilcorp Energy Company and their affiliate, Harvest Alaska.
This purchase includes the transfer of the largest percentage of ownership of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System to Hilcorp Energy and their affiliate, Harvest Alaska.
The sale has been controversial. In March of 2020, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska issued an order approving the company’s request to keep their financial documents confidential. That order generated extensive public comments from Alaskans, including the Council.
One of the commissioners, Stephen McAlpine, dissented in that March order. He noted that he believed “airing these documents publicly and subjecting the entire transaction to intense debate far outweighs the petitioners’ interest in keeping them confidential.”
