Spill council offers head job to Phillips

by The Associated Press

The agency in charge of spending what’s left of $900 million in Exxon Valdez oil spill restoration funds has offered its top job to longtime Republican politician Gail Phillips, former speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. She was expected to accept the job offered July 24 by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, replacing executive director Molly McCammon, who resigned July 2.

Phillips’ employment completes a physical and philosophical makeover of the council that is likely to affect how the remaining $90 million in restoration funds are spent. Three members of Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski’s cabinet replaced those of former Gov. Tony Knowles. Two of three federal seats have turned over since the 2002 presidential election. The trustees’ main job is to decide what restoration projects the council undertakes, currently some $5 million worth a year. Since the council was formed in the wake of the 1989 Prince William Sound oil spill, nearly half its expenditures have gone toward buying large parcels of land.

Murkowski has criticized this approach. Last month he vetoed the council’s attempt to purchase land on Afognak Island.

What lies ahead will become clear in October when the trustees choose among dozens of scientific projects for funding in the coming year. The new state trustees include Fish and Game Commissioner Kevin Duffy, Environmental Conservation Commissioner Ernesta Ballard and Attorney General Gregg Renkes.