On October 1, 1990, Joe Banta started a new job managing oil spill planning projects for a young organization, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.
“It was really amazing and rewarding to work for an organization like ours, especially in the early, formative days,” Banta said. “The energy was electric. There was a sense of urgency to make the council work, and get the organization’s structure up and running.”
Prior to joining the council, Banta witnessed the oil spill first hand as a Cordova fisherman and helped with the spill response, rescuing oiled wildlife.
Banta has been with the council for 25 years this October. He now works mostly with the council’s Scientific Advisory Committee and manages the council’s environmental monitoring projects.
A crawler pig like this one reduces cost and risk during pipeline inspections. Photo courtesy of Alyeska Corporate Communications.
This is a tale of perfect timing and imperfect piping, insistent independence and trusted teamwork, hundreds of hurdles and millions in savings, a simple Russian robot and a seismic company culture shift.
This is the story of the Robotic Inline Inspection Tool Team, which received Alyeska’s 2015 Atigun Award for Innovation. The seven team winners, and the dozens of individuals, teams and organizations that supported the effort, were all integral in a game-changing three-year journey that led to the world’s first crawler pig integrity inspection of a liquid pipeline: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, known as TAPS.
In the summer of 2014, a 200-pound Russian-owned robotic crawler pig inspected around 850 feet of 36 inch buried TAPS piping at Pump Station 3, providing a level of clarity on its system integrity that was previously inaccessible. The success of that inspection resulted in reduced risk and significant cost savings for Alyeska and TAPS. It also inspired similar inspections – as well as similar cost savings and risk reduction – in 2015 and the years ahead.
“There were so many people and teams involved; we all did our jobs, and we did our jobs well,” said Bhaskar Neogi, Alyeska Senior Director of Risk and Compliance. “But this was also about luck, perseverance, stubbornness not to give up, and a willingness not to worry about if we failed.”
Students in the annual Copper River Stewardship Program studied the Exxon Valdez oil spill from a different perspective this year. They learned about the spill directly from some of the most affected citizens in the region.
The program, run by Kate Morse, program director for the Copper River Watershed Project, takes youth from the Copper River Basin on a hands-on exploration of their region. During a 10-day trip to various Copper River communities and Prince William Sound they learn about the ecology, culture, economy, and history of the region from individuals representing a wide range of organizations.
Students read stories from “The Spill” to each other during this summer’s Copper River Stewardship Program.
This year, Morse added a study of the Exxon Valdez disaster through oral history. Morse had the students listen to recordings from the Exxon Valdez Project Jukebox, the partnership between the council and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and read excerpts from “The Spill,” the council’s book. From her volunteer work on the council’s Information and Education Committee Morse was familiar with both projects, which documented and preserved stories from local citizens who experienced the Exxon Valdez spill from a variety of viewpoints.
Each student listened, watched, or read the story of someone sharing their first-hand experiences of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, then designed a flag to represent the person’s story based on their understanding and feelings related to the person’s experiences.
Unalaska and Valdez firefighters at the Valdez harbor. Photo by Zac Schasteen.
A shipboard fire is dreaded by all mariners. When a fire occurs at a dock or a burning ship is brought into port, local fire departments are expected to respond. Since most communities in Alaska are located along a river or the coast, it is prudent to prepare for a vessel related incident.
Techniques used in marine firefighting are quite different than those normally employed in structural fires on land. To better prepare land-based firefighters for such incidents, the council developed the Marine Firefighting Symposium which is held every two years. This past May, the council hosted the eighth edition of this symposium in Valdez.
Thirty-eight firefighters from 14 different Alaska communities, ten marine fire and salvage industry representatives, and fire officials from Alyeska, attended the three-day event.
