Many changes stemming from transition of marine services contractor to Edison Chouest
Prince William Sound Tanker Oil Spill Contingency Plan
By Linda Swiss
Council Project Manager
Updates to two oil spill prevention and response contingency plans are currently underway. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, or ADEC, solicited public comments regarding the changes to the spill prevention and response plans this past summer.
The plans are prepared by the operators of Alyeska’s marine terminal and oil tankers and are subject to state approval. These plans specify what operators will do to prevent and clean up oil spills. There are separate plans for spills from the Valdez Marine Terminal and from the tankers that carry oil. Both plans undergo an approval process approximately every five years. With the marine services transition in Prince William Sound, Edison Chouest Offshore’s new equipment means the details in the plans will change, triggering a public review.
In 43 pages of formal comments submitted to ADEC in August and September, the Council made a number of recommendations to either maintain the same level of preparedness or improve the proposed plans.
Thorough training, paired with a robust array of drills and exercises, will produce the safest prevention and response system
From the Executive Director, Donna Schantz
Donna Schantz
In most professions, it takes time, training, and on-the job learning to do a job well. A doctor or an electrician may earn a degree, but it can take years to become proficient. They must practice and observe a variety of situations before they are trusted to perform surgery or operate independently with live electrical current.
The oil spill prevention and response profession is no different.
In this next year, Edison Chouest Offshore will be bringing in new tugs and barges custom-built for Prince William Sound, new equipment, and new personnel, all playing key roles in spill prevention and response for the Valdez Marine Terminal and associated oil tankers.
By July of 2018, Edison Chouest Offshore (ECO) of Louisiana will replace Crowley Marine Services as Alyeska’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System contractor in Alaska. Services provided by this contract include operation of escort tugs, general purpose tugs, oil recovery storage barges, and associated personnel. All of these resources are key oil spill prevention and response assets for Prince William Sound.
This transition is the most significant change in oil spill prevention and response equipment and personnel since the system was created.
Our understanding and expectation is that the new services will meet or exceed the current system, with several technological enhancements from what is in place today. This transition provides an opportunity to improve upon existing capabilities, and Alyeska has made a commitment for the Council to be involved in the transition planning process.
Council staff and volunteers visited Edison Chouest shipyards earlier this year to observe the construction of the new vessels. Pictured is the hull of one of the new escort tugs.
ECO is currently building 13 new vessels for the contract: five escort tugs, four general purpose tugs, and four open water barges.
New technology onboard the tugs will include: render-recover winches, a sophisticated technology that automatically maintains constant tension on a line, improving safety and performance during towing, which the Council has advocated to move to for some time.
They will also include forward-looking infrared and digital radar signal processing systems to improve the detection of icebergs as an oil spill prevention measure, as well as to enhance the ability to detect spilled oil on water should prevention measures fail.
In some cases, the new general purpose tugs will be replacing existing conventional tugs that are over 40 years old.
The new open water barges will be outfitted with Crucial skimmers, to replace the TransRec skimmers, and OceanBusters will replace the current U-Boom configurations.
ECO will also be sending one offshore anchor handling utility vessel, the Ross Chouest, which is proposed as the Hinchinbrook sentinel 17 mile standby tug.
Another positive about the ECO transition is that they are going to use Samson Rope Technologies, Inc. as the provider for their towlines, just as Crowley does.
The Council believes it is reasonable, prudent, and safe to limit laden tanker transits through Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska to the same range of weather conditions in which escort vessels are certified and crews are trained. Read more about the resolution and new board position: Council issues position on safe crude oil tanker transit and escort vessel operation in the Sound
Edison Chouest is planning equipment sea trials and personnel pre-qualification drills and exercises in the Gulf of Mexico and in Puget Sound before equipment arrives in Prince William Sound. There is also a planned 6-8 week overlap of Edison Chouest Offshore and Crowley Marine Services crews and equipment in Prince William Sound. We understand that additional training will occur in Prince William Sound during that overlap.
Edison Chouest has begun recruiting personnel, and recruiting efforts will ramp up towards the end of summer 2017. They will have to comply with the Alyeska’s 20 percent Alaska Native hire requirements.
The Council supports training in local watersÂ
The Council’s goal is to ensure the equipment can safely operate in Alaska waters and the crews are adequately trained and qualified. The Council is working to develop specific recommendations regarding equipment capabilities, the process to ensure that crews are adequately trained and qualified, and that adequate drills and exercises are conducted before the new contractor takes over.
People are the most important resource. The Council has been emphasizing the need to drill and exercise in our local waters so that the crews understand the extreme environmental conditions and operating parameters in Prince William Sound.
While the Council is confident that Edison Chouest Offshore’s personnel are knowledgeable and competent, we are concerned about a large changeover in such a short amount of time.
Use of unfamiliar equipment in a harsh and unfamiliar environment could be challenging. The Council has concerns regarding the change in equipment and people with experience, and the transition process needs to be handled very carefully in order to maintain the level of prevention and response capabilities in place today.
Independently verifying equipment capabilities
PWSRCAC expects to be involved in reviewing and commenting on training programs and intends to observe as many drills and exercises as possible to verify personnel and equipment capabilities.
The Council supported ADEC’s “Best Available Technology” process that was used when the first new construction tugs were custom built for service in Prince William Sound in the late 1990s. This process set the standard for determining BAT, and we want the same rigor used to keep the bar high.
AÂ transparent process
The council’s board and committee members volunteer many hours using their expertise to help maintain safe oil transportation in Prince William Sound. Congress found that only when local citizens are involved will the trust develop that is necessary to change the system from confrontation to consensus.
The Council is committed to working with Alyeska and regulators to ensure that the level of prevention and response services are not weakened as a result of this transition.
We all want the same thing – to prevent oil spills, and to have the best response system possible should prevention measures fail. To do this, we must have a robust and transparent process in place to independently verify capabilities and performance to make sure that existing safeguards are not weakened.
The Council was created to involve local citizens in decisions that impact the safe transportation of oil. Our members have local knowledge and input that is essential to ensuring the strongest possible oil spill prevention and response system for our waters.
Council-sponsored reports related to transition:
The Council has hired the firms of Robert Allan Ltd., Little River Marine Consultants and Nuka Research and Planning Group to help us evaluate equipment specifications, crew training and proficiency, and other aspects of the transition.
The changeover for the marine services contract for Alyeska is underway. By July of 2018, Edison Chouest Offshore, or ECO, of Louisiana will replace Crowley Marine Services for prevention and response services in Prince William Sound. Crowley Marine Services has held the contract since the creation of Alyeska’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System after the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Changeover planning
Most of the current activity involves planning for the change. Even though the new vessels will not be arriving in Alaska until next year, ECO will be hiring personnel this year to begin training.
