Online Observer

UPDATED JULY 1: Budget cuts threaten spill response equipment in remote Alaska communities

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Update:

GOOD NEWS! We received word from Lt Nunez with Alaska’s District 17 of the Coast Guard that the Coast Guard headquarters has approved funds to keep the remote spill response equipment caches in Alaska through their next fiscal year (October 1, 2015 – September 30, 2016).

Your letters of support helped! He specifically mentioned that the public’s letters of support for the caches really helped convince headquarters that Alaska has different needs than the rest of the country.

Original post:

In an effort to reduce spending, the U.S. Coast Guard is considering decommissioning caches of oil spill response equipment stationed around Alaska. The caches will be funded through the next fiscal year, however, long-term funding is not secure. The Coast Guard has invited the public to share their thoughts.

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Environmental Protection Agency revising rules on oil spill dispersants

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A vessel sprays water as practice for applying dispersants during an oil spill drill.
A vessel sprays water as practice for applying dispersants during an oil spill drill.

By Joe Banta
Council Project Manager

The Environmental Protection Agency is updating the rules for using chemicals, including dispersants, to respond to oil spills in the United States. This update is intended to address the concerns that arose during and after the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010. During that disaster, an estimated 210 million gallons of oil was spilled, and over 1.8 million gallons of dispersants were applied to the spill.

Dispersants are chemicals applied to spilled oil to try to break down the oil into small particles with the hope that these particles disperse into the water column rather than remain floating on the surface in a slick.

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New regulations mean cleaner air in Prince William Sound

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By Austin Love
Council Project Manager

Crude oil tankers in Prince William Sound are using cleaner fuel than they were just a few years ago. New regulations, created by the International Maritime Organization, aim to improve air quality by limiting pollutants emitted from large ships. The regulations target three air pollutants produced by internal combustion engines and released in vessel exhaust: sulfur oxides, particulate matter, and nitrogen oxides.

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How do you define burdensome?

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By Amanda Bauer
Council President

As a personal rule, I try not to get caught up in the words that people choose. But there is one word that has been used so much in conversations about funding for oil spill prevention and response, and when talking about the cost-efficiency of regulations: that word is burdensome.

I would like to tell you about some things I would consider a burden.

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