Board of Directors News

Board elects officers for upcoming year

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Photo of five of the six executive committee members who will serve until May 2024.
Left to right: Ben Cutrell, Amanda Bauer, Robert Archibald, Robert Beedle, and Angela Totemoff. Not pictured: Bob Shavelson.

At its annual Board meeting in Valdez, on May 4-5, 2023, the Board elected officers who will serve from May 2023 to May 2024. All current officers were re-elected into the same positions they held for the previous year.

The elected executive committee is comprised of:

  • President: Robert Archibald, representing the City of Homer
  • Vice President: Amanda Bauer, representing the City of Valdez
  • Treasurer: Wayne Donaldson, representing the City of Kodiak
  • Secretary: Bob Shavelson, representing the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition
  • Three Members-at-Large:
    • Ben Cutrell, representing Chugach Alaska Corporation
    • Robert Beedle, representing Cordova District Fishermen United
    • Angela Totemoff, representing the Community of Tatitlek

“The Council believes firmly that our greatest successes result from citizens, industry and regulators working together to maintain and improve our safeguards designed to prepare for and prevent future oil spills,” Robert Archibald said. “It is crucial we not forget the reasons that led to the creation of this organization and continue to work together to maintain the record of safe, efficient transportation of crude oil through our region. I am honored to lead our Board for another year as we work toward our shared goal of protecting our communities, economies and environment.”

The Council is grateful to have the support of its many volunteers from all over the Exxon Valdez oil spill region. The new executive committee is an excellent representation of the Council.

Meet the Executive Committee and new representative from Seward

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Request for Qualifications: Recreation Seat, PWSRCAC Board of Directors

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The Council is soliciting Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) to identify entities interested in serving as the Recreation representative on the PWSRCAC Board of Directors. The seat for Recreation provides the opportunity to influence decisions having profound implications for oil transportation safety in Alaska, and for the state’s oil spill prevention and response capabilities.

Submittal Deadline: July 15, 2023
Award Announcement: Pending PWSRCAC Board Approval

For more information, general requirements and submittal instructions, please download the full Request for Qualifications:

RFQ PWSRCAC Recreation Seat

Questions?

Inquiries regarding this RFQ should be directed via email to KJ Crawford at  kj.crawford@pwsrcac.org

Board of Directors met in Seward

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Glacier near Seward, Alaska. Photo by Linda Robinson, July 2010The Council’s Board of Directors met in Seward on September 22 and 23, 2022. 

The Council conducted regular business during the meeting, including updates from Council ex officio members, staff and committees. Other topics included on the agenda were:

  • An activity report by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on the Valdez Marine Terminal and Ship Escort Response Vessel System operations.
    A review of new designs for the replacement of the floor, and a system to limit corrosion within the floor, for one of the crude oil storage tanks at the Valdez Marine Terminal.
  • An update from Council staff and contractors and Alyeska staff on the monitoring of repairs and next steps resulting from snow and ice damage to tank vents at the Valdez Marine Terminal in February and March 2022.
  • Introduction and remarks from Interim Alyeska President Betsy Haines.
  • A video based on field trials for a recent Council study on passing messenger lines to disabled vessels, the first crucial step in setting up a tow line between a rescue tug and a tanker in distress.
  • Discussion to potentially update the Council’s 2006 position on use of dispersants in our region during an oil spill.
  • A report on the availability of out-of-region equipment that would be needed in the event of a major oil spill in our region.
  • A review and assessment of the Council’s Peer Listener Training Program and similar programs nationwide that promote peer-to-peer community support, specifically after disasters such as an oil spill.
  • A report on plankton sampling done throughout Port Valdez in 2021, to understand how these populations varied to improve the monitoring of invasive species.
  • A presentation on marine bird surveys conducted in Prince William Sound in March of 2022.

 Council Board meetings are routinely recorded and may be disseminated to the public by the Council or by the news media.

 

Patience Andersen Faulkner retires; recognized for 24 years service

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Andersen Faulkner speaks with Kristina Peterson, Russell Dardar, and Shirley Laska, resident of Louisiana visited Alaska after the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill seeking advice from Alaskans who dealt firsthand with the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

The Board’s longest-serving member, Patience Andersen Faulkner, retired after 24 years of service to the Council’s mission.

Her first-hand experience with the spill began in 1989, first working through the advocacy of Chugach Alaska Corporation as a Native representative to VECO, and later processing legal claims for many commercial fishermen who were unable to make a living afterwards. Her experience led to her becoming the longest standing Board member, representing Cordova District Fishermen United.

Faulkner worked with Dr. Steve Picou after the spill to document the profound human health and societal impacts of oil spills, which is now recommended for the list of damages that responsible parties must legally acknowledge and attempt to address in the wake of a large oil spill. This work led to one of the Council’s most successful projects, “Coping with Technological Disasters – A User Friendly Guidebook.”

Faulkner has dedicated countless hours since she was seated in 1998, as she has served multiple times as president of the Board, as vice-president, treasurer, and as a member-at-large on the Executive Committee. She has also served on a number of other committees, including Finance, Board Governance, Long Range Planning, and Information and Education.

At its meeting in May, the Board passed a resolution of gratitude for Andersen Faulkner, who received a standing ovation. The full resolution lists more of Faulkner’s accomplishments.

The Coping with Technological Disasters guidebook includes a program called “Peer Listening,” which has helped communities deal with such disasters as Hurricane Katrina, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and other human-caused disasters around the U.S. and the world.

Read more about the development of the peer listening program from a 2021 interview with Faulkner: A good neighbor reflects on the art of listening

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