A new report examined hydrocarbons that enter Prince William Sound from the Valdez Marine Terminal that until recently have received little attention.
Researchers Maxwell Harsha and David Podgorski from the University of New Orleans investigated the current process of removing crude oil residue from tanker ballast water. They were specifically looking for a type of compound called oxygenated hydrocarbons, as well as heavy metals.
What are oxygenated hydrocarbons?
Hydrocarbons are made of hydrogen and carbon molecules. There are a variety of types, depending on how these molecules are arranged. Crude oil is a mixture of types of hydrocarbons.
Hydrocarbons can become “oxygenated” when atoms of oxygen become attached to hydrocarbon molecules. This family of compounds is currently not monitored or regulated because they cannot be detected with the same process as other components of crude oil. Concerns about these compounds are emerging due to potential risks to human health and the environment.
Residue left in ballast water
Three treatment processes are employed to remove hydrocarbons from oily ballast water: gravity separation, pressurized air treatment called dissolved air flotation, and biological treatment.
Harsha and Podgorski compared samples of water taken at different points during the process of cleaning ballast water at the terminal.
The study’s results demonstrate that the treatment process effectively removes most hydrocarbon compounds, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). These are considered the most harmful to humans and other organisms, known to cause cancer and neurological impacts. The concentration of hydrocarbons in the water after treatment is at historically low levels. The researchers also found that one of the steps in the treatment, which uses dissolved air to remove small particles of hydrocarbons from the water, may lead to the formation of oxygenated hydrocarbons that are then released into Port Valdez.
Traditional monitoring techniques used at the Valdez Marine Terminal identify other hydrocarbons, but don’t catch oxygenated hydrocarbons.
How are hydrocarbons cleaned from ballast water? Oily ballast water is pumped into the treatment facility where it is processed to remove contaminants. It is first allowed to settle, which separates most of the oil by gravity. That oil is skimmed off, and then the water is treated with an air bubble process that removes additional compounds. The final stage is a biological treatment where oil-eating bacteria digest more of the hydrocarbon residue. In this image, the red asterisks note the points where researchers took samples.
What is ballast water?
Tankers sometimes pump seawater into empty crude oil storage tanks to help balance the vessel during rough seas. When a vessel carrying oily ballast water arrives at the Valdez Marine Terminal, the water is treated to remove hydrocarbons before discharged into the sea at Port Valdez.
In 1989, when a young Patience Andersen Faulkner was working as a legal aide in the picturesque town of Cordova, disaster struck when crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound from the tanker Exxon Valdez.
Part of her job was to listen to the folks who came into the law office talk about their experiences with the spill.
“They would tell me how things devastated them emotionally,” she says. Even though the spill affected her too, she just listened.
The town didn’t have much in the way of mental health services, so Andersen Faulkner pushed the lawyers she worked for to get the community some help. They introduced her to Dr. Steve Picou, a sociology professor at the University of South Alabama.
Dr. Picou had been studying the impacts that technological disasters had on communities. While the effects of natural disasters were well-understood, technological disasters were a relatively new field, with little documentation. After the spill, he came to Alaska to study how the disaster affected the community of Cordova. This work developed into the Council’s guidebook called “Coping With Technological Disasters,” designed to help communities cope better with similar disasters in the future.
A technological disaster is human-caused. These accidents are caused by the failure of systems that are in the control of people. Examples include an oil spill, train derailment, plant explosion, or other accident, which have different effects on communities than a natural disaster.
How different types of disasters create different social environments
Not only are the effects of a technological disaster long-lasting, they differ from other types of disasters. After natural disasters, such as earthquakes or typhoons, there are systems in place for support, such as government agencies. Communities often bond during efforts to rebuild.
Following a technological disaster, there are questions about responsibility, victim-blaming occurs, and complex lawsuits are common. All of these can cause lingering psychological damage.
In 2006, Dr. Picou surveyed Cordovans to examine the long-term effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. His work showed that 17 years after the spill, recovery was progressing, but psychological stress from the spill was still present.
Some natural disasters can have elements in common with technological disasters. Problems with preparation and response, such as occurred after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, can cause similar community effects.
Learning to listen
Andersen Faulkner noticed that when the clients talked through their problems, they often left feeling better.
“They weren’t cured of anything, they didn’t have any money, but they at least knew they had a tool within themselves on which to draw,” she says about the experience at the time.
The Council’s 1996 guidebook by Dr. Picou included a section on training community members to become peer listeners. This work was based on the experiences of Andersen Faulkner and other Cordovans. In 1998, Andersen Faulkner joined the Council’s Board of Directors, where she served as a representative of the Cordova District Fishermen United until 2022. She helped guide the development of updates to the guide and manual.
Over the years, this program was used and adapted for recovery following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, the Council updated the “Coping With Technological Disasters” Guidebook. This year, the Council sponsored a major overhaul of the peer listener program. A newly revised Peer Listener manual incorporates many advances in the fields of peer-to-peer support and community resilience.
How the new manual can help
The revised manual is designed to assist communities that have been through a disaster. Here are a few ways the manual can be beneficial.
For individuals:
Skills to be a better listener
Examples of supportive and reassuring responses
Warning signs that additional help is needed beyond peer support
How to recognize when you are getting overwhelmed and need to take care of yourself
Links to resources for additional help, including many specifically for Alaskans
For communities:
Promotes a network of support that increases resiliency
New techniques in the field of genetic analysis are improving our understanding of the effects of oil spills.
The Council collects samples from blue mussels like these to better understand the effects of oil spills. Photo by Lisa Matlock.
Since 1993, the Council has gathered data on the presence of hydrocarbons in sediments and blue mussels in the region. Samples of sediments and mussels are collected and analyzed for the presence of oil or other pollutants that originate from the Valdez Marine Terminal and tankers that ship oil from there.
In 2019, the Council began looking at new methods to measure the impacts of oil on the environment. In April 2020, a spill from the terminal leaked approximately 1,400 gallons of oil into Port Valdez. This unfortunate incident presented a unique opportunity to learn.
The new research analyzes the genes of blue mussels using a technique known as “transcriptomics.” Transcriptomics involves measuring how particular genes are expressed in an organism. This expression can be affected by conditions in the environment.
The research began in 2019 with a pilot study. The early research looked at 14 specific genes. More recent work expanded the study to over 7,000 genes, and is summarized in a new report sponsored by the Council.
The researchers compared samples of mussels taken from sites near the terminal, near the Valdez harbor, and a third control site. They found some interesting results.
Effects of oil on genes lingers
After the April 2020 spill, the levels of oil in the mussels had declined by August, however the mussel’s genes showed evidence of lingering effects.
Different pollutants have different effects
More recently, researchers tried to identify how the effects differed according to different contaminants. The crude oil-contaminated samples were compared to samples from the Valdez harbor, which were contaminated with pollutants such as diesel fuel or vessel exhaust, and the control site.
Genes such as those associated with stress, neurotransmitters, and the immune system were among those that varied between the three sites.
Results expected to have far-reaching implications
The information in these studies will help improve the Council’s monitoring program in the future. The researchers noted in the report that the findings are not just applicable to Alaska but could potentially improve monitoring in marine environments around the world.
New report: “Assessment of Risks and Safety Culture at Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal”
Prepared by Ms. Billie Pirner Garde, contractor to the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.
This report was initiated in June 2022, in response to safety concerns at the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) brought to PWSRCAC by current and former Alyeska employees.
The purpose of the assessment documented in the report was to reach a determination, based on the information provided to PWSRCAC, on whether there is a current level of unacceptable safety risk to the VMT, its workforce, the community of Valdez, and the environment. After reviewing all information available through the assessment, it is Ms. Garde’s conclusion that there currently is an unacceptable safety risk to the VMT, and consequently no reasonable assurance that the VMT is operating safely and in compliance with its regulatory requirements.
Inadequate resources (e.g., staffing, equipment, adequate safety and reporting systems) and budget pressures are a common theme in all the issues addressed throughout the report. There is no substantive information in this report regarding safety or process safety issues that is not already available to Alyeska. The failure of the company to act on the information it has is one of the primary weaknesses identified by the assessment.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, and Alyeska’s failure to perform effective response capability, changed the industry and Alaska forever. It should have permanently changed Alyeska’s respect for the dangers inherent in its operations as well. Unfortunately, the current situation reveals that due to changes in the organization, availability of resources, quality and audit functions, maintenance and system upgrades, and operational integrity and compliance have suffered significantly under recent corporate management. At the same time, regulatory oversight at the VMT has also diminished.
Report recommendations
Over the past several years, PWSRCAC has become increasingly concerned with budget cuts and reductions in staffing levels at agencies with key oversight responsibilities at the VMT, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The consequences of reduced oversight have, generally, never been favorable for the Alaska public and its environment.
The PWSRCAC Board of Directors endorses all recommendations contained in Ms. Garde’s report. This includes PWSRCAC recommending that Congress initiate a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit to determine the adequacy of the present regulatory oversight of Alyeska’s VMT operations by federal and state agencies with responsibility over the VMT, including compliance with the Federal Grant of Right-of-Way and Stipulations, and the State Lease.
In line with the recommendation for Congress, the Council is requesting that the State of Alaska initiate an assessment, or audit, of the present regulatory oversight of Alyeska’s VMT operations by state agencies with responsibilities over the VMT.
Per the report recommendations, PWSRCAC is also requesting that the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conduct or commission a full independent audit of applicable VMT systems for compliance with Process Safety Management.
The importance of the operational integrity of the VMT cannot be overstated because an incident or accident could interrupt the flow of oil from the Alaska North Slope, thus endangering U.S. energy supplies and energy security. With new oil development on the horizon, every effort must be made to ensure the integrity of systems and infrastructure within the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).
The main recommendations include specific requests for Alyeska and the TAPS Owners to:
Commission an independent full assessment of the Alyeska safety management systems and determine a specific timeline for actual completion of the necessary changes to ensure safe operations;
Commission an immediate independent audit to be conducted of all deferred maintenance at the VMT; and
Provide mandatory training for all supervisory and management personnel on their responsibilities to manage in a manner that promotes a strong safety culture, upholds a compliance culture, and does not tolerate harassment, intimidation, retaliation, or discrimination.
These recommendations and requests include more details, which can be found in the Recommendations section of the report. The Council acknowledges that there are recommendations directed internally to PWSRCAC and we will be considering appropriate actions in an effort to address these.
Next steps
The issues and recommendations covered by this assessment and report will take some time to address, possibly years. The Board and staff will now be following up with Alyeska, the Delegation, Governor, Legislature, and regulatory agencies to collect any input and thoughts on the path forward. Discussions need to take place with all parties, once they have had an opportunity to review the information contained in the report, to hopefully outline a process to ensure these matters are addressed in a timely manner.
Conclusions
OPA 90 mandates for the Council include developing long-term partnerships with government and industry, while also directing it to take steps to eliminate the previous complacency of those groups that led up to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. This is a challenging mission to achieve. It can be difficult to maintain productive relationships with those to whom you must also provide critical feedback, especially during times of serious reductions in staffing and budgets for those entities. While PWSRCAC recognizes this report could generate tension with Alyeska and some of the state and federal regulatory agencies with oversight responsibilities at the VMT, we hope to work with all parties to address these issues in a manner that will lead to a constructive and productive path forward.
Alyeska, state and federal regulators, and the Council all do their best to work with all parties in a highly professional manner, seeking results that will help prevent further oil spills or accidents. This mature, collegial, and cooperative approach has helped protect Alaska from another Exxon Valdez-type of oil spill or other devastating accident over the past three plus decades. But, as the report findings indicate, it takes constant vigilance, training, and monitoring to help ensure that Alaska will be spared another major oil spill.
We know that Alyeska and the associated regulatory agencies have dedicated staff working daily on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, doing their best to ensure it is operated as safely as possible with the resources they are given. We also recognize that Alyeska and the associated regulatory agencies all have full plates in fulfilling their missions which benefit our nation in terms of safe transport and storage of Alaska North Slope crude oil. And, considering the events taking place in global affairs, the importance of those missions continues to grow.
PWSRCAC recognizes that while zero defects in such missions is the clear intended goal, we also acknowledge there will be times when issues, problems, and deficiencies arise that must be dealt with and resolved once identified. The view of the PWSRCAC, as authorized by Congress, is that the work of this Council should be carried out in a collegial, cooperative, and constructive manner to be of substantial assistance to the mission of Alyeska, and the associated state and federal regulatory agencies, in transport and storage of oil safely through the VMT and associated tankers.
PWSRCAC sincerely appreciates the spirit of cooperation present at its March meeting with Alyeska and hopes to continue to support their work to address the issues raised in the report in the long term. The Council’s Board of Directors and staff agree with the sentiment expressed by Alyeska executives after their receipt of the draft report, that this report provides an opportunity to make Alyeska better by looking into these issues, addressing problems, and making sure employees are heard. It is the Council’s hope that Alaska Congressional Delegation, Governor, Legislature, and regulatory agencies with oversight of the VMT also view the findings and recommendations in the report as an opportunity for improvements to the system.
The Council stands ready to support Alyeska, and state and federal regulatory agencies, in our role as an advisor. We believe firmly that the greatest successes result from citizens, industry, and regulators working together to maintain and improve safeguards designed to prevent and prepare for future oil spills.
