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Citizens’ council stays after spill plan Valdez nonprofit seeks tighter requirements for tanker operators carrying Alaska North Slope crude through Prince William Sound Wesley Loy For Petroleum News
An Alaska nonprofit that monitors the oil terminal at Valdez is continuing to push for upgrades to the tanker industry’s spill prevention and cleanup plan.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation oversees the plan, which has been undergoing review for a five-year renewal. The existing plan was to expire on Nov. 1.
The Valdez-based Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council has provided DEC with three rounds of highly detailed comments seeking clarifications and improvements in the plan.
The council submitted its latest batch of comments, 18 pages worth, on Oct. 12. While the council says the plan generally is very good, and oil shippers and the DEC have made substantial improvements, is still contends numerous fixes are needed.
The congressionally mandated council has 19 member organizations including communities, fishing, Native, tourism and other groups affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.
Downstream response Tanker operators under state law must have an oil discharge prevention and contingency plan, or C-plan. The plan lays out how the industry would respond to an oil spill with equipment and manpower.
The C-plan covers shippers transporting Alaska North Slope crude oil through Prince William Sound. These include Alaska Tanker Co., which carries for BP; Polar Tankers, the shipping arm for ConocoPhillips; SeaRiver Maritime, an ExxonMobil subsidiary; and Tesoro, a refiner.
One remaining concern for the citizens’ council is whether the industry is really prepared to clean up spilled oil that might spread out of Prince William Sound. The organization notes that in the days after the Exxon Valdez spill, tides and currents took oil as far as 460 miles to the southwest, to locations such as Cook Inlet, Kodiak and Chignik.
“While state regulations require cleanup of oil that escapes the Sound, those requirements are much less specific than for oil still within the Sound,” the council said in an Oct. 25 press release.
The council is encouraging the state and tanker operators to set a timetable for conducting drills and exercises “to ensure that all parties are prepared to mount an effective response in downstream communities.”
Fishing vessel shortage? The industry maintains contracts with commercial fishing boats that can be called out quickly to help corral and recover spilled oil.
The citizens’ council contends, however, that the industry doesn’t have arrangements with enough fishing boats.
“Under state requirements, tanker operators must be prepared to clean up 300,000 barrels of oil within three days,” the council press release said. “The plan drafted by the operators claims that having 275 fishing vessels under contract will meet that standard. The council disagrees. Historically, the operators and the state have agreed that, on any given day, only about 75 percent of vessels on contract can be counted upon to be available and ready to respond in the required time frame. By the council’s estimate, 371 vessels would have to be under contract to make sure enough were ready to respond when actually needed. The council recommends such a requirement be incorporated in the new contingency plan.”
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