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DEC finds deficiencies with Alyeska spill response
The Associated Press
A surprise oil-spill drill in Valdez in January revealed that nearly all of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s response workers have not been fully trained for their jobs, state regulators said Feb. 11.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation also found that some of Alyeska’s staff and contract workers didn’t respond quickly enough, and others were not clear on just what their tasks would be in the event of a spill.
“We have concerns about their ability to conduct an initial response at the (Valdez marine) terminal,” said Bonnie Friedman, a DEC spill-response specialist.
The required skills are part of the tanker terminal’s oil-spill readiness plan. They include handling of hazardous material, firefighting, preventative maintenance procedures and operation of various equipment used in spill response. Majority of workers lacked proper certification Of the 39 workers who participated in the drill, 36 lacked at least one certification and several had 10 or more deficiencies, DEC said in a Feb. 8 letter to Alyeska. DEC told Alyeska in the letter that all training gaps must be filled within 90 days.
Alyeska conceded its training program may have some shortcomings, but said its workers in Valdez are well-prepared for spills. Company officials also criticized DEC for mandating some training that is not necessary.
Dennis Maguire, Alyeska’s regulatory manager in Valdez, cited requirements that sea-based response workers at the Port of Valdez be certified for helicopter-related work and valve operation on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
Maguire said the company will submit a new training program for DEC’s consideration that the company believes will more accurately reflect what response workers stationed at various places need to know.
“We’ll be focusing on what your job is during an oil spill, and what training you need in order perform that function,” he said. Layoffs prompted snap drill DEC called the Jan. 7 snap drill at the Valdez tanker terminal to test Alyeska just after the company announced that it was laying off five of its 50 response workers in Valdez in a belt-tightening move brought on by depressed oil prices.
“We wanted to ensure Alyeska could muster the required number of people,” Friedman said. A total of 33 response workers was required to report to a designated point at the tanker terminal within 30 minutes. DEC said 31 workers showed up on time, and that eight others arrived within 45 minutes. Some confusion among workers But DEC said some job classifications had more respondents than necessary, while others fell short. Friedman said the failure to identify skills during the drill told DEC that some workers might not be clear about their roles in the event of a spill.
The finding of deficient training mirrors the results of other recent assessments of Alyeska’s oil-spill readiness. In January, the DEC found that workers at Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System hadn’t been adequately trained to deal with an open-water spill at an unannounced drill in November.
And back in June, a Joint Pipeline Office report criticized Alyeska for insufficient training for some spill-response workers stationed along the trans-Alaska pipeline.
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