Alaska Chadux receives offshore environmental award

Alaska Chadux Corp., the Anchorage based oil spill response cooperative, has received the U.S. Coast Guard’s 2010 Rear Admiral William M. Benkert award for marine environmental protection, the company announced Feb. 3. Vice Admiral Manson Brown, USCG Pacific area commander, presented the award during the American Petroleum Institute Tanker Conference in San Diego, Calif., the company said.

Vice Admiral Brown described the award, which is presented biennially for all aspects of marine environmental protection, as the “premier national award recognizing marine environmental excellence.”

Chadux is a member owned cooperative that provides services across Alaska to its more than 60 member companies. With spill response equipment staged at 11 strategic hubs, including Cordova, Valdez, Seward, Nikiski, Unalaska and Barrow, the co-op also maintains response service contracts with the USCG and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

The co-op has provided resources for more than 40 incidents since 2004, including the grounding of the M/V Selendang Ayu near Dutch Harbor in December 2004, the company said.

“Oil spill response in Alaska presents extreme challenges because of the operating environment and logistical demands,” said Chadux General Manager Bob Heavilin, during the award ceremony. “Chadux leverages our regional hub network of response resources with a variety of partnerships at the federal, state and local levels to provide effective and sustained preparedness and response services.”

—Alan Bailey