Exxon Valdez tanker leaking oil in Prince William Sound, April 13, 1989. Photo by Charles N. Ehler. Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Collection, ARLIS.
The council recently partnered with the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Oral History Program to create an online oral history of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Visitors to the Project Jukebox website can access video, audio, and written resources that offer a rich understanding of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The stories of twenty people who experienced the spill firsthand have been recorded talking about the impact the spill had on their lives and on the environment, the cleanup response, the long-term effects of the spill, and changes in the oil industry since 1989.
Tom Kuckertz, project manager for the Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring program, retired from the council staff in June.
A member of the council’s staff for 14 years, Kuckertz worked closely with the council’s Terminal Operations and Environmental Monitoring Committee, which monitors potential sources of pollution at the Valdez Marine Terminal. During his tenure at the council, Kuckertz headed up projects to monitor such important council issues as corrosion of terminal assets, air and water pollution from the terminal, and issues related to maintenance at the terminal. Kuckertz was particularly known for developing a “systems integrity matrix,” which helped track issues at the terminal and when those issues were expected to be addressed.
He came to Valdez from Jemez Springs, New Mexico, where he was the vice president of software systems for Pajarito Scientific Corporation, a business that developed and manufactured instrumentation for the characterization of nuclear waste. He and several colleagues started the business to commercialize the technology developed while on staff at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Kuckertz held the position of Group Leader of the Systems and Robotics Group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory prior to his first retirement so that he could pursue a second career at Pajarito Scientific Corporation.
After his retirement from his third career, Kuckertz and his wife Sue plan to remain in Anchorage and also spend time at their second home in Jemez Springs and travelling, with plans in the works to take a cruise from Copenhagen to New York. Kuckertz serves on the executive committee of the Engineering Accreditation Commission, and for ABET, Inc., (formerly the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), the organization that accredits all college engineering programs in the U.S. and in some foreign countries. Kuckertz has helped evaluate engineering programs at universities all over the U.S. and the world, most recently in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. He expects to continue that volunteer work during his retirement.
“RCAC has a lot of diversity of expertise,” Kuckertz says of his years working with the council, “the personality of the [of the organization] is what you might expect or want of a citizens’ group. Citizens might not be rational in an individual sense, but that diversity of backgrounds and perspectives helps form a rational viewpoint as a whole out of the many different perspectives.”
“Tom has been a great asset to and representative for this council,” said Mark Swanson, executive director of the council. “While we will miss his humor and technical contributions to the workplace, I expect many on staff will continue to see Tom socially. He’s been a great friend and colleague.”
New Terminal Operations Project Manager hired
Austin Love
Austin Love was hired by the council in June to replace Kuckertz. Love has a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of San Francisco and a Masters of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Most recently, Love held the position of Water Resources Engineer for Systech Water Resources, Inc., modelling and analyzing pollutant loading and hydrology in various watersheds in the United States. Love also worked as a volunteer for the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, collecting and recording water sample data.
Love commercial fished in Prince William Sound as a skiff-driver for Thane Miller, current vice president of the council. Love spent the week of June 16 training with Kuckertz prior to his retirement. Love began working full time in the Valdez office on July 14th, but will be taking some time off in mid-August to get married in Valdez.
Barb Penrose, administrative assistant for the council’s Anchorage office, resigned in June. Penrose had been studying towards a second career as a master sommelier, an expert in wine and other spirits.
Penrose began working part-time for the council in 1998, during her summers off from her 22 year career as a teacher of deaf children. She was originally hired to digitize and catalog a backlog of historical documents the council had accumulated. In March 2010, after Penrose retired from her teaching position, she was hired full-time as administrative assistant for the council. While in that position, she assisted with the document management, made travel arrangements, and assisted with financial matters.
In June, she moved to Brier, Washington to begin work at the Chateau St Michelle winery, and to live near her mother.
Though she loves Alaska and wished she could stay, the area just didn’t offer enough opportunity for an aspiring sommelier, she says.
Natalie Novik
Following Penrose’s departure, the council hired Natalie Novik to fill the vacant position. Novik was born and educated in Paris, and has Breton and Russian roots. Novik has a Master of Arts degree in Northern Studies from Sorbonne University in Paris.
Novik volunteered to help clean up after the multiple oil spills that plagued Brittany starting in the 1970’s. When the Exxon Valdez spill occurred, Novik was teaching in New York and already planning to move to Alaska.
Her first job here was to help open the border between Russia and Alaska for NANA Regional Native Corporation. She lived in Kotzebue for five years, regularly commuting between both sides of the Bering Strait. She also did some work in Sakhalin, Russia to help establish oil spill clean-up and prevention teams. She worked for 12 years for the Northern Forum on a wide variety of issues in the North and the Arctic, including oil spills, flooding, environmental and wildlife issues.
She speaks French and Russian fluently, as well as a little Breton.
“I am glad now to have this incredible opportunity to work for RCAC, round the corner from my home,” Novik says.
On July 10, staffer Nelli Vanderburg visited the terminal to observe an inspection and repairs to drainage piping under the secondary containment liner. These pipes drain water from the secondary containment area after a rain. A manhole was also being installed.
While the pipes were being repaired, Alyeska took the opportunity to inspect and test the secondary containment liner. The liner is made of “catalytically blown asphalt,” or asphalt that has been blown into place, as opposed to poured. In the photo below, a section of the flexible liner is being cut. The cut section will be tested for permeability. The last inspection and testing of these liners was in 1992.
