Q. What is the official name of your company?
A. ARCTOS, LLC
Q. What do you most want people to know about your company?
A. ARCTOS was created in response to the growing need to provide specialized professional assistance in meeting Alaska’s regulatory spill prevention and response preparedness matters for Vessel, Oil and Gas operators. Over the long term, ARCTOS provides the most cost-effective solution to meet the challenges of compliance for our clients by “doing it right the first time”. This reduces costly operational delays, compliance issues, potential fines from regulatory agencies and preserves public image.
Kirsten Ballard has over 24 years of experience as a Regulatory Compliance Specialist in the State of Alaska. Ms. Ballard and her team’s unique knowledge of the regulations can identify, support and assist Operators with cost effective solutions identify and meet complicated compliance requirements. ARCTOS offers a wide assortment of ongoing services “al la cart” providing clients the option of using only the services they need thereby reducing their Regulatory Compliance costs dramatically.
Q. Where is your company located?
A. Anchorage, Alaska
Q. What year was the company founded and by whom?
A. ARCTOS, LLC was founded by Ms. Kirsten Ballard and Mr. Randy Pysher January 2007.
Q. What are your company’s primary business activities?
A. Alaska Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency “C” Plans, EPA Spill Prevention Countermeasure and Control Plans, Compliance Spill Drills, Facility Response Plans, Facility Compliance Inspections including API Certified 570 piping and 653 tank inspections, Imaging, Mapping, GIS services and, Health, Safety and Environmental Plans, Program Development, Management and Compliance audits and assistance.
Q. Are there important projects the company is currently a part of or has done recently?
A. ARCTOS is currently involved in activities with Brooks Range Petroleum, Buccaneer Alaska, Cook Inlet Energy, Doyon, Harley Marine and NordAq Energy. Recent projects include activities on behalf of Furie Operating Alaska, formerly Escopeta, Savant Alaska and the Alaska Marine Highway System.
Q. What is your company’s main strength or its edge over the competition?
A. ARCTOS is a highly maneuverable and flexible company. ARCTOS develops services requested by our clients or identified through consultation or analysis to serve their specific requirements. Our ongoing support services provide freedom for our clients to “pick and choose” only the services needed for maintenance of their compliance programs. This structure provides the most effective financial counter measures for our clients to manage the increasing costs of Regulatory Compliance. ARCTOS is comprised of a team of highly skilled and tenured specialists with field and administrative experience in their areas of expertise. Their knowledge and capabilities means they can take their actual in-field exposure experiences and apply them to our client’s compliance activities.
Q. What new markets, clients or projects did your company attract in the last year?
A. With the addition of Mr. Greg LeBeau and his years of maritime experience, ARCTOS branched into marine vessel projects with the Alaska Marine Highway System and Harley Marine.
Q. What is the most challenging work/contract the company has undertaken?
A. Most certainly it was the C-plan for Furie, formerly Escopeta Oil, and the Spartan 151. Cook Inlet had not seen a “jack-up” drill rig since the 90’s and the plan had to be written to meet the newer state and federal requirements with no other C-plans available to compare it with, nor with any regulators left who were familiar with jack-up rig operations. Using years of experience and knowledge ARCTOC anticipated the concerns of the agencies and the public so there were no surprises or controversy. The plan was written, reviewed publicly and approved in record time.
GIS mapping was another challenge for the C-Plan when it was written in early 2011 since there were high expectations for spill trajectory planning yet there were limited resources to apply to the task. Using available information ARCTOS was able to develop the necessary spill trajectories using “best available technology” modeling methods. Faced with a 6 month timeline from the start of C-plan development to State approval, the ARCTOS team worked non stop, 7 days a week to obtain an approved C-plan for the State of Alaska and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement so Escopeta could begin drilling on-time and prevent the rig from going into stand-by.
Q. What are the biggest obstacles to completing work your company undertakes?
A. C-plans are long lead-time items. Impressing upon the operators that they must take into account the time required for development, submittal, public comment, response and approval well in advance. Failure to allow adequate time for the regulatory process will most certainly delay their project start date even when all other permits and approvals have already been granted. Given the public’s heightened interest in oil spill prevention and response we advise our clients to start the C-plan process at least a year prior to start of operations.
Q. What do you see as your company’s biggest challenge in the next five years?
A. Expanding our clientele to include more of the independent operators who will best benefit from our services.
Q. What is your company’s safety record? What steps does the company take to ensure a safe work environment?
A. Our safety record is exceptional with no recordable or lost time incidents in 6 years of operation. Although the majority of the projects that ARCTOS has been involved with have been administrative, field operations (inspections) of oilfield facility piping and tanks does occur regularly. To ensure that safe, productive and environmentally knowledgeable field operations are conducted; ARCTOS has developed a Safety, Health and Environmental Management System. This system is revised yearly and is so effective that our clients and contractors employ the model of this program in their HSE management systems.
Q. What is the address of your company’s website?
A. The current website address is arctosak.com. The newly redesigned website scheduled to come online in June 2013 will have the same address but with an up-to-date and expanded services list.
