News & Announcements

Council’s Board met May 6 and 7

by

The Council held a virtual board meeting, via video and teleconference, on Thursday and Friday, May 6-7, 2021.

Final agenda and meeting materials

On the agenda

The Council conducted regular business during the meeting, including seating of established directors and committee members and election of new board officers. Other topics included on the agenda were:

  • An activity report by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on the Valdez Marine Terminal and Ship Escort/Response Vessel System operations.
  • A discussion with Representative Andy Josephson, Alaska State Legislature, District 17.
  • Reports on results of maintenance reviews of crude oil storage Tank 8 and cathodic protection systems at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
  • A presentation on the results of a project to assess and describe the current worldwide best practices being used in the design and operation of highly capable rescue tugboats, specifically around needs and requirements necessary for operation in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska.
  • A presentation on the vetting of foreign flagged tankers by Harvest Alaska Midstream.
  • A presentation on new web-based resources about the Regional Stakeholder Committee concept, unique to Alaska spill response policy.
  • A presentation covering who pays for response and damages from an oil spill, the liabilities associated with a spill, and the legal implications of “responsible party,” including an explanation of the legal and financial requirements and differences between federal and state laws and regulations.
  • A report on the annual analytical summary and interpretation of the passive sampling device, mussel and sediment samples taken each summer for the Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program.
  • A presentation on the latest version of the Council’s “Coping with Technological Disasters: A User Friendly Guidebook” and the associated appendices.
  • A report from the Council’s legislative monitors and staff on political developments and prospects coming out of Washington, D.C., and Juneau.

Council board meetings are routinely recorded and may be disseminated to the public by the Council or by the news media.

Both Council offices (Anchorage and Valdez) are currently closed to the public as a safety precaution due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The health and safety of Council staff and volunteers are our top priority and will drive decisions as the situation evolves and more information becomes available. Updates on COVID-19 impacts to Council activities.

News release in PDF: 

Prince William Sound RCAC board meeting will be virtual, May 6-7 (2021)

Council recertified as citizens’ advisory group for Prince William Sound

by

The U.S. Coast Guard recertified the Council as meeting its responsibilities under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.

In a February 16 letter to the Council, Rear Admiral M. T. Bell, Commander of the Coast Guard’s District 17 in Juneau, notified the Council of recertification.

The Act requires the Council to be recertified annually as the citizens’ advisory group to the oil industry in Prince William Sound.

Guidelines established in 2002 streamlined the recertification process for two out of three years, with every third year requiring stricter procedures and public comment.

The streamlined process, used this year, requires the Council to report only substantive changes. The new recertification expires February 28, 2022.

Copies of the Council’s application for recertification can be obtained by contacting Brooke Taylor at brooke.taylor@pwsrcac.org.

Board of Directors met January 28 and 29

by

The Council held a meeting on Thursday and Friday, January 28 and 29, 2021.

The Council conducted regular business during the meeting, including updates from Council ex-officio members, staff, and committees. Other topics included on the agenda were:

  • An activity report by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on the Valdez Marine Terminal and Ship Escort/Response Vessel System operations, as well as an update on the allision earlier this month between the tanker Polar Endeavor and SERVS Tug Courageous at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
  • Comments from Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Jason Brune on the division’s proposed FY2022 budget.
  • A report on results of the 2020 forage fish surveys conducted in Prince William Sound to identify species along the shoreline, such as herring, sandlance, and capelin.
  • A presentation on maritime English use between ship crews and native English speakers in examining human factors that may contribute to accidents.
  • An update and presentation on current Council projects working to review maintenance of crude oil storage Tank 8 and cathodic protection systems at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
  • A presentation on the current status of identifying and mitigating the Barry Arm landslide risk in Prince William Sound.
  • A report of the Council’s monitoring of drills and exercises in 2020.
  • A summary by Council staff of incidents (e.g., oil spills, fires, malfunctions causing shutdowns, navigational closures, tanker/escort incidents) at the terminal or on the associated tankers that occurred in 2020.

Council board meetings are routinely recorded and may be disseminated to the public by the council or by the news media.

Compromise reached over habitat protections

by
Photo of the Valdez Duck Flats.
The Valdez Duck Flats is one of the largest salt marshes in Prince William Sound. This habitat is home to 52 species of marine birds, 8 species of waterfowl, 18 species of shorebirds, and other songbirds and birds of prey. Salmon, harbor seals, and sea otters feed in this rich estuary. The other sensitive area is Solomon Gulch Hatchery, which incubates 270 million pink salmon eggs and 2 million coho salmon each year.

Sensitive areas guaranteed swift protection when threatened by an oil spill

Conflicting views over the timing associated with protecting two areas in Port Valdez in the event of an oil spill has been resolved. Rapid protections for two environmentally sensitive areas, a large salt marsh known as the Valdez Duck Flats and the Solomon Gulch Hatchery, are guaranteed when more than 5 barrels (210 gallons) of oil are spilled from the Valdez Marine Terminal. The protections will also be deployed if a spill occurs and the amount of oil in the water is unknown or if a lesser amount is spilled but the source is not secured.

The resulting agreement also means spill responders will gain important environmental data that will improve oil spill planning and response for Port Valdez.

Diverging opinions led to appeal

In 2017, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, or ADEC, approved an update to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s oil spill contingency plan for the Valdez Marine Terminal. One of the changes modified a decision “matrix,” which was a tool created after a 1994 oil spill to help responders decide the timing of when to deploy protective oil spill boom for the duck flats and hatchery, both east of the terminal.

The 2017 version of the matrix potentially delayed protections for these two environmentally sensitive areas. In that version, if the oil was moving west, the matrix did not require immediate deployment of the protections, even in the case of a 2.5-million-gallon spill from the terminal.

Deploying the protective boom takes time, up to 10 or more hours depending on the weather. Based on the Council’s analysis of the 2017 version of the matrix, deployment of the protective boom could have been delayed up to 36 hours.

The Council was concerned that the oil would contaminate the two sites if the incoming tide moved the oil east, which would be expected every 12 hours. The Council appealed this approval, along with the City of Valdez, and the Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation. The Valdez Fisheries Development Association filed a separate appeal, but both appeals were eventually joined.

Collaboration leads to consensus

Alyeska, ADEC, and the groups who appealed reached a consensus after a years-long collaborative process.

The compromise called for gathering information about the weather in the vicinity of the terminal. To accomplish this, the groups agreed that a weather buoy would be placed at the Valdez Marine Terminal. The new buoy records wind speed, gusts, and direction; wave height and direction; and current speed and direction.

Preliminary data shows that an easterly movement of winds and waves is common.

Better data on variable weather conditions in Port Valdez

Photo of new buoy deployed in 2019.
Local mariners know that the weather on the south side of Port Valdez can vary significantly from the north side, however scientific data has never been available to confirm this. Weather forecasts are typically focused on the north side, since Valdez and most of the region’s population is located there. Find out more about these buoys and the data that is helping prevent and prepare for potential oil spills: New weather buoys establish PORTS® information for Valdez, Alaska

A second weather buoy was placed near the Valdez Duck Flats, co-funded by a grant from the City of Valdez. Both weather buoys were donated to the Council by Fairweather Science.

Compromise means safe oil transportation in Prince William Sound

In over 30 years of existence, this was the first time that the Council appealed a decision by ADEC to this level. The appeal lasted almost three years and the Council considers the result a success for all those involved.

“These may seem like insignificant changes, but they add up,” said Linda Swiss, the Council’s contingency plan project manager. “Part of our job is to make sure minor changes do not become a major problem. We all share the goal of keeping oil out of the water and off the land and to ensure that environmentally sensitive areas are protected should prevention measures fail.”

Skip to content