The major environmental monitoring activities of the Council are conducted through the long-term environmental monitoring project, known as LTEMP. This project has gathered data on the presence of hydrocarbons in sediments and mussels in the region since 1993.
The project quantifies the amount of hydrocarbons, provides a benchmark for assessing the ongoing impacts of routine tanker and terminal operations, and identifies physical and biological changes taking place in the region’s ecosystem.
Establishing consistent baseline data helps us identify and assess trends over time. This data would enable us to accurately assess oil recovery in the event of a future spill. Long-term environmental monitoring also provides a context for more site-specific studies and research.
Mussels were selected as the indicator species for LTEMP because they are:
- indicator species
- important subsistence food
- important prey of sea birds and sea otters
- commonly found throughout Prince William Sound and downstream habitats
By law, the Valdez Marine Terminal is allowed to discharge small amounts of oil pollution each day into Port Valdez. Occasionally, there are also relatively small oil spills from the terminal that reach the marine waters of Port Valdez. The Council works both to prevent accidental releases and to understand how long-term low inputs of crude oil impact the ecosystem.
Results from the Council’s studies indicate a variety of sources of hydrocarbons in Prince William Sound including the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989, operations at the Alyeska terminal, combustion sources, boating and shipping activities, normal oil seepage or coal deposits, biological processes, and atmospheric fallout.
Generally, the hydrocarbon levels detected under LTEMP have been relatively low. The stations farthest from the Alyeska terminal show low hydrocarbon levels, while those closest to the terminal show higher levels. Concern over the hydrocarbon levels at the terminal prompted the council to add an additional sampling effort at the two Port Valdez stations in the fall of each year.
LTEMP results are summarized in a year-end report and periodically peer reviewed. The program underwent a full data analysis and summary in 1998. Results from a 2000 review of the two Port Valdez monitoring sites suggest that Alaska North Slope crude oil residues from the terminal’s ballast water treatment facility have accumulated in the port’s intertidal mussels.
A reduced sampling frequency for LTEMP began in FY2010, as provided for in a new sampling plan accepted by the Board at its January 2009 meeting following a full programmatic review begun in 2007. The new sampling plan requires one sampling session per year at the two Port Valdez sites and the Knowles Head site. Then, every fifth year all 10 sites will be sampled.
Importance of Adequate Baseline Data
The Cook Inlet Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council has its own environmental monitoring program, similar in scope to LTEMP. Together, the data produced by the two programs provide some of the only multi-year data for coastlines downstream from the most industrialized and populated areas in Alaska.
The growth in commercial and recreational use of the northern Gulf of Alaska increases the complexity of determining adequate baseline data. Prince William Sound’s sensitive coastal marine environments are experiencing increased pressures on what is already intense use. Evidence of this increase in pressure can be found in the growing numbers of large and small passenger cruise ship traffic, the extension of the longevity of the trans-Alaska pipeline and its shipping activity, the Whittier road access that is adding to the increase in numbers of visitors to Prince William Sound, state oil and gas lease sales, new ports, increases in recreational uses, and demands for new access to fishing sites
Annual Long Term Environmental Monitoring Project Reports and Data
| View additional details | Author | Date | Description | View Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LTEMP 2022‒2023 Technical Supplement | Morgan L. Bender, Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants | January 26, 2024 | This technical supplement contains information on field sampling, and analytical and data analysis methods used to monitor and assess environmental hydrocarbons and their potential environmental risk in Prince William Sound … | |
| LTEMP 2022-2023 Summary Report | Morgan L. Bender, Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants | January 26, 2024 | The major environmental monitoring activities of the Council are conducted through the long-term environmental monitoring project, known as LTEMP. This project has gathered data on the presence of hydrocarbons in … | |
| Examining the Effectiveness of Ballast Water Treatment Processes: Insights into Hydrocarbon Oxidation Product Formation and Environmental Implications | David C. Podgorski, Maxwell L. Harsha | September 22, 2023 | Abstract: This study investigates the treatment processes employed at a ballast water treatment facility in Valdez, Alaska, to remove hydrocarbons from unsegregated ballast water. | |
| Executive Summary Of Effects Of The April 2020 Oil Spill Detected In Study Of Mussel Genes | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Eric Litman, James R. Payne, Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon Waters, William B. Driskell | March 1, 2023 | On April 12, 2020, a minor oil spill was reported at the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) in Port Valdez, Alaska. An estimated 1,400 gallons (~34 barrels) of Alaska North Slope … | |
| Transcriptomic responses to an Alaskan oil spill over time reveal a dynamic multisystem involvement in exposed mussels (Mytilus trossulus) | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Eric Litman, James R. Payne, Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon Waters, William B. Driskell | January 1, 2023 | In response to a minor shoreline spill in Port Valdez, AK, a time series of mussels (M. trossulus) was collected and analyzed for oil burdens and transcriptome response. In general, … | |
| Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program 2021 Technical Supplement | Morgan L. Bender, Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants | September 30, 2022 | This document is the technical supplement for the Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program 2021 Summary Report. | |
| Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program 2021 Summary Report | James R. Payne, Morgan L. Bender, Owl Ridge Natural Resource Consultants, William B. Driskell | May 30, 2022 | This document is a summary report for 28th year of Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program. | |
| Full Report: Mussel Chemistry and Transcriptomic Response after a Minor Alaskan Oil Spill | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Eric Litman, James R. Payne, Lizabeth Bowen, William B. Driskell | September 22, 2021 | For this report, researchers analyzed mussels for oil concentrations and genetic response to the April 2020 spill, both near and far away from the spill site. | |
| Executive Summary: Mussel Oiling and Genetic Response to the April 2020 Valdez Marine Terminal Spill | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Eric Litman, James R. Payne, Lizabeth Bowen, William B. Driskell | August 20, 2021 | For this report, researchers analyzed mussels for oil concentrations and genetic response to the April 2020 spill, both near and far away from the spill site. | |
| Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program: 2020 Sampling Results and Interpretations | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | April 1, 2021 | This annual report summarizes and interprets the Council’s oil pollution monitoring work for the year. | |
| Using Mussel Transcriptomics For Environmental Monitoring In Port Valdez Alaska – 2019 And 2020 Pilot Study Results | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Heather Coletti, James R. Payne, Katrina Counihan, Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon Waters, William B. Driskell | February 17, 2021 | The goal of this pilot study was to determine if transcriptomic analysis of mussel tissue would be useful as a part of the Council’s Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP). | |
| Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program: 2019 Sampling Results and Interpretations | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | May 7, 2020 | This annual report summarizes and interprets the Council’s oil pollution monitoring work for the year. | |
| Port Valdez Mussel Transcriptomics | Austin Love, Brenda Ballachey, Heather Coletti, Katrina Counihan, Lizabeth Bowen, Shannon Waters | November 20, 2019 | This pilot project provided funding to evaluate if a new environmental monitoring method, transcriptomics, could be used to improve the Council’s Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP). | |
| Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program: 2018 Sampling Results and Interpretations | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | August 1, 2019 | The Council’s Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP) was begun in 1993 with the goal of monitoring for environmental impacts from oil transportation activities. | |
| Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program: 2017 Sampling Results and Interpretations | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | September 1, 2018 | This annual report examines the hydrocarbon chemistry data from Port Valdez sediments and mussel tissues with the goal of monitoring for impacts from oil transportation activities on the environment at … | |
| LTEMP 2015 Sampling Results and Interpretations | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | December 1, 2016 | ||
| LTEMP Results And Interpretations From Sampling, 2008-2013 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, Larry G. Holland, Marie L. Larsen, William B. Driskell | March 8, 2013 | ||
| LTEMP 2008-2012 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, Larry G. Holland, Marie L. Larsen, William B. Driskell | December 8, 2012 | ||
| LTEMP 2005-2006 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, Marie L. Larsen, William B. Driskell | December 1, 2006 | ||
| LTEMP Ecology Of Tidal Flat Communities of the Copper River Delta | Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Department of Marine Sciences, Erika Clesceri, Mary Anne Bishop, Sean P. Powers, University of South Alabama | April 11, 2006 | For this report, researchers investigated linkages between riverine and oceanic influences and the nutritional baseline for mudflat food webs in the Copper River Delta and Hartney Bay in Southeastern Prince … | |
| LTEMP Kinnetic Laboratories Reference Oils Report | Kinnetic Laboratories Inc. | March 1, 2006 | This report describes the results of chemical analyses performed on portions of sediment samples collected in 2000 by ABL personnel for a separate project entitled “Evaluation of Yakataga Oil Seeps … | |
| LTEMP 2004-2005 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, Marie L. Larsen, William B. Driskell | February 10, 2005 | ||
| LTEMP 2003-2004 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, William B. Driskell | December 28, 2004 | ||
| LTEMP 2002-2003 Summary | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, William B. Driskell | December 28, 2003 | ||
| LTEMP 2002-2003 | James R. Payne, Jeffrey W. Short, William B. Driskell | December 28, 2003 | ||
| LTEMP 2000-2002 | Kinnetic Laboratories Inc. | December 28, 2002 | ||
| Assessing Transport And Exposure Pathways and Potential Petroleum Toxicity to Marine Resources in Port Valdez, Alaska, 2001 | James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | December 8, 2001 | ||
| LTEMP 1998-1999 | Kinnetic Laboratories Inc. | December 28, 1999 | ||
| LTEMP Caged Mussel Study From Applied Biometering | Applied Biomonitoring | February 16, 1999 | A caged mussel pilot study was conducted between February and April, 1997 in Port Valdez, Alaska. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of using transplanted mussels … | |
| LTEMP 1997-1998 | Kinnetic Laboratories Inc. | December 28, 1998 | ||
| LTEMP 1993-1996 Non-technical | Dennis C. Lees, James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | December 28, 1996 | The primary objective of the ongoing Long-Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP) is to collect data to monitor hydrocarbon pollution due to the oil transportation industry in Prince William Sound and … | |
| LTEMP 1993-1996 | Dennis C. Lees, James R. Payne, William B. Driskell | December 28, 1996 |