The Council’s Board of Directors met in Kenai on Thursday and Friday, September 19 and 20, 2019.
News & Announcements
Staff news: Long-time science manager retires
Joe Banta, project manager for the Council’s environmental monitoring program, retired this past April. In 1990, Banta was the first project manager hired for the Council, serving for almost 30 years. In his early years at the Council, he managed oil spill planning projects for the Council’s Oil Spill Prevention and Response Committee. He later … Read more
Homer representative elected president of Council
The Council held annual elections to choose its seven-member executive committee at the May meeting in Valdez.
Board passes resolution commending Douglas K. Mertz
Resolution 19-02:
Commending and Expressing Gratitude for Douglas K. Mertz’s Dedication
and Service to the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and the State of Alaska
Whereas, Douglas K. Mertz launched his Alaska legal career in 1974 as Law Clerk to Hon. Jay A. Rabinowitz, Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, quickly advancing to several Assistant Attorney General positions he held in Fairbanks and Juneau from 1975 to 1991, before entering private law practice in 1991;
Whereas, one of Doug Mertz’s primary areas of focus in over 45 years of legal practice in Alaska has been oil transportation and pollution issues;
Whereas, Doug Mertz was the State of Alaska’s primary counsel on spill matters and Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) regulation from 1977-1990;
Whereas, Doug Mertz represented the State for the Chevron v. Hammond case in the U.S. Court of Appeals, establishing that state oil spill penalties are not preempted by federal law;