Online Observer

Council elects officers for next year

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The Council held annual elections to choose its seven-member executive committee at the May meeting in Valdez.

Amanda Bauer, who represents the City of Valdez, was re-elected as president. Thane Miller, who represents Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation, was re-elected as vice-president. Bob Shavelson, who represents the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition, was re-elected as secretary. Wayne Donaldson, who represents the City of Kodiak, was re-elected as treasurer. Robert Archibald, who represents the City of Homer; Melissa Berns, who represents the Kodiak Village Mayors Association; and new Board member Rebecca Skinner, representing the Kodiak Island Borough, were all elected to serve as at-large members of the executive committee.

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New Board members join the Council

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Rebecca Skinner of Kodiak has replaced Burch as the representative for the Kodiak Island Borough. In addition, Josie Hickel from Chugach Alaska Corporation resigned from the Board in May and was replaced by Peter Andersen.

Rebecca Skinner
Peter Andersen

Skinner was born and raised in Kodiak, Alaska, and is a member of the Sun’aq Tribe of Kodiak. She is a practicing attorney and Executive Director of Alaska Whitefish Trawlers Association.

Andersen, who is currently the Vice President of Operations at Chugach Commercial Holdings at Chugach Alaska Corporation, has an extensive background in oil spill prevention and response.

More about our new members: Current Board of Directors

New vessels and barges on their way to Alaska

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Major equipment upgrades include state-of-the-art tugs, skimmers, oil-spotting technology, oil response barges

The Commander, pictured here at the shipyard, arrived in early March.

The first new Edison Chouest Offshore, or ECO, tugs to arrive in Prince William Sound are expected to be the Elrington, one of the new general purpose tugs, and the Commander, one of the new tanker escort tugs. They both launched last fall and are traveling north from the Gulf of Mexico, expected to arrive in early March. They will pick up a new, purpose-built oil spill response barge on their way past Portland, Oregon.

Update: The first tugs have arrived!

ECO is bringing a total of five new escort tugs, four new general purpose tugs, one utility and anchor handling tug, and four response barges to Alaska. As vessels and barges arrive in Prince William Sound, hands-on training and demonstrations with this equipment will start.

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Safe oil transportation: Are we really so far apart?

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Musings from a retired tug engineer

Robert Archibald
Robert Archibald

If you’ve ever owned horses, you probably know that cleaning the barn first thing in the morning is good for the soul. I use that time to think. Recently, before going out to take care of my four-legged friends, I started pondering the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council’s recent resolution, the response from industry, and had a good shovel session to sift through it all.

For those who may not be aware, in January the council passed a resolution stating that oil tankers and escort vessels should not be permitted to transit through Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska in weather conditions which have been determined by industry to be unsafe for training.

Some have focused on the differing viewpoints between the council and industry. In truth, we are more in alignment than not. We both want the highest level of safety within the oil spill prevention and response system for Prince William Sound. We agree that crew safety is the first priority. Alyeska Pipeline Service Company has also committed to training new crews to demonstrate tanker escorts in a variety of weather and sea conditions in the Sound.

Our resolution is a request for industry to determine their safe limits of training, clearly define them, and then evaluate the need to limit laden tanker transits through Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska to those same weather conditions.

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