Online Observer

New deputy director for administration to lead council staff in Anchorage

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Former Coast Guard commander Stephen Rothchild has been hired as administrative deputy director for the council. Rothchild began work in the Anchorage office on April 1.

He replaced Stan Jones, who retired after 17 years with the council.

“We are delighted to have someone with Steve’s knowledge of Prince William Sound taking over this position,” said Mark Swanson, executive director of the council, “Stan will of course be a hard act to follow, but Steve is so easy going and brings such a great skill set, I’m sure everyone will enjoy working with him.”

Rothchild comes to the council from Juneau where he has been a tour boat captain for the past several years.

In 2008, Rothchild retired from the Coast Guard after 23 years, ten of those years stationed in Alaska. While in Alaska, he spent time as captain of Coast Guard Cutters Sweetbrier and Sycamore in Cordova.

His career experiences include a broad mix of management, vessel operation, strategic planning, and leadership roles.
Patience Andersen Faulkner, council representative for the Cordova District Fishermen United, remembers Steve and his family from his days in Cordova fondly.

“Steve brings with him great skills working with communities,” Andersen said, “In Cordova, he led a crew of Coast Guard recruits who joined in and became part of the Cordova/Prince William Sound community.”

Rothchild combines his familiarity of Prince William Sound with his management skills to fill the critical role of administrative deputy director at the council. He oversees staff administration, provides media relations and public information for the council, and leads the Anchorage staff office.

“Steve’s leadership on the Sycamore was reflected in his crew’s involvement and engagement with Cordova and Prince William Sound residents,” Faulkner said, “I know he will be bringing those relationship and leadership skills to the council.”

Rothchild is a native of New York City. He graduated in 1985 from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix.

His first taste of Alaska was as a senior Coast Guard academy cadet on a vessel patrolling fisheries in the Bering Sea and Bristol Bay during the summer. As his last duty with the service, he patrolled king crab fisheries on board the Munro, which had just moved to Kodiak.

Rothchild and his wife, Mimi, will be finishing their relocation to Anchorage this summer and are looking forward to learning all about what Alaska’s only big city has to offer.

Possible funding shortfall for state spill prevention and response on the horizon

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Funding for the state agency in charge of oil spill prevention and response is projected to go into the red within three years if no action is taken by the Alaska Legislature.

The Department of Environmental Conservation’s Spill Prevention and Response Division, known as SPAR, is the agency in charge of oil spill prevention and response capabilities for Alaska.

SPAR reviews and approves oil spill prevention, response and contingency plans for oil terminals, pipelines and other oil industry facilities. SPAR is also responsible for ensuring a rapid spill response to protect human health and the environment.

SPAR’s programs are supported by a nickel surcharge added to each barrel of oil produced in Alaska. That revenue, known as the “470 Fund,” pays for prevention program costs as well as costs the state would incur in the event of an oil or other hazardous material spill. One penny per barrel of oil funds the ability for SPAR to respond to spills and is capped at $50 million. Four cents per barrel goes towards prevention and funds the day to day activities of SPAR. The prevention account has no cap.

Over the years the funds available to SPAR have been reduced by a substantial amount due to inflation, decreased oil through the pipeline, and diversion of funds into other programs such as contaminated site cleanups and litigation. An estimate by the department shows the funding will soon fall below the amount needed to keep current operations fully funded.

When the fund was created by the Alaska Legislature in 1986, the amount that could be collected for the response account was capped at $50 million. Almost 28 years later, the cap is still at $50 million. The council’s position is that that the response cap should be increased to match its original value in current dollars and adjusted annually for inflation. In addition, once the increased cap is met on the response side the one cent could be transferred to the prevention account to narrow the inflation gap.

In February, council board members Steve Lewis, John Velsko and Patience Andersen Faulkner, along with council staff and the council’s legislative monitor Doug Mertz met with elected officials in Juneau. They expressed the council’s concern that both prevention work and the state’s ability to respond to a major spill would be compromised by the potential shortfall.

Invasive species bill introduced to Alaska legislature

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In February, Representative Paul Seaton of Homer introduced House Bill 89 to the Alaska legislature. This bill, if passed, would direct the state’s Department of Fish and Game to set up a plan for an interagency rapid response to an invasion of non-native species. The bill called for funding to support the response efforts.

The bill passed through the House Fisheries and Resource Committees unopposed and was still in its final House committee, Finance, when the legislature adjourned. The council expects the committee to take it up when the legislature reconvenes in January and pass it. So far there has been no opposition to the bill, except for the fact that it will require a modest short-term expenditure to draft an interagency response plan.

Aquatic invasive species are a well-known problem in Alaska. Once introduced, aquatic invaders are difficult to eradicate, and can have a permanent effect on the environment including catastrophic damage to local fisheries.

In June 2010, researchers discovered Didemnum vexillum — also known as “rock vomit” — in Whiting Harbor near Sitka. This species, which can cover large areas of the seafloor, is an aggressive invader and a potential threat to shellfish farms, groundfish fisheries, fish spawning and other resources.

The council is particularly concerned about invasive species such as European green crab which can potentially travel in the ballast water of oil tankers and be released into Prince William Sound.

For more on aquatic invasive species in Prince William Sound, visit our Marine Invasive Species page.

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