Jeff Mach to head governor’s new permit streamlining group at DEC

Mach, 15-year veteran of the Department of Environmental Conservation, will also be in charge of spill contingency plans at DEC, replacing Susan Harvey

Steve Sutherlin

PNA Managing Editor

Michele Brown, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner, has named Jeff Mach team leader of DEC’s new special project permitting team.

Announced by Gov. Tony Knowles Dec. 12 as part of a budget initiative, the team is tasked with streamlining the permitting process for oil and gas projects, including completing reviews “of the increased number of contingency plan applications on time.”

The governor’s office said the project team “will also troubleshoot the system and seek ways to improve the process, including setting up significantly enhanced field verification, inspections and oil spill drills.”

Mach, a 15 year veteran of DEC and most recently the department’s gas pipeline liaison officer, will sign off on C plans for the department, a task previously assigned to DEC employee Susan Harvey.

Harvey, program manager of DEC’s Division of Spill Prevention and Response, was reassigned to other duties within the department. (See sidebar to this story.)

Mach assignment temporary

He will work with the department’s exploration, production and refinery contingency group to examine the rules, then take the proposed solutions to industry. At that point he envisions a working group consisting of stakeholders, including industry representatives, to propose methods to implement change.

“If there is a need for statutory changes, the group will craft a proposal to take to the Legislature,” Mach said, adding that while time is short, there might be a proposal before the Legislature during the upcoming session. If not, he said he was confident that needed changes would be before the Legislature by the following session.

Mach said he was aware of industry concerns regarding placement of backup rigs for relief wells, if needed, for exploratory drilling sites. He said each exploration plan is different, and that when drilling into formations with unknown pressures, a back up rig is necessary as a precautionary measure. The explorer must identify where the rig is going to come from. At issue is not the response time to locate the rig on site, but rather, how quickly can a relief well be completed.

“The question is, do we agree that you can move it on site and get the well drilled in the timeframe specified in the plan?” Mach said.

1990 rules might not fit today's circumstances

“We need to review on a periodic basis how have we done?” he said, adding that he intends to advance ideas to make it easier on industry.

For instance, there will be a review of off-ice rules for drilling locations where the possibility of a broken-ice spill is present. Every site is a bit different, in terms of where it is and the local conditions.

“Things are changing; there are issues that didn’t exist years ago — shorter winters, and increased interest,” Mach said. “There may be other ways to approach the issues.”

Mach signed off on a permit during his first week in the new post, allowing exploratory drilling in south Kuparuk by Phillips Alaska Inc. The Kuparuk exploration project drill sites are Andros No. 1, Antigua No. 1, Cayman No. 1 and Cirque Nos. 3 and 4. They are located in townships 9N and 10N, ranges 7E-10E, Umiat Meridian.

Mach has served at DEC for a total of 15 years, he said. He returned to the department in July after a stint as a consultant in Juneau for EMCON-Alaska Inc. and Hart Crowser Inc. He joined ADEC in the mid 1970s at the Fairbanks office after studying biology and wildlife management at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and later transferred to the regulatory office in Valdez.

Mach reviewed proposals for the Foothills gas pipeline from 1979 to 1982, and performed construction compliance monitoring for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline. After 1982, he worked as a field inspector in the hazardous waste program.

Brown says staff was ‘changing the rules’

In some cases, Brown said, “staff were changing the rules because they thought they had a better way to do things. You can't make up the rules as you go along.”

Brown wouldn't name individuals but said some agency workers were “nitpicky” in their reviews, and spill plans were held up unnecessarily. Some regulators delayed plans over minor paperwork and clerical items.

“We're talking about (companies) getting ready to drill this winter and not knowing whether they would have their plans approved until a couple weeks before they were set to go,” she said.

Staff changes in the department included the reassignment of Susan Harvey who was in charge of reviewing industry oil spill-cleanup plans.

Harvey told PNA Dec. 20 she did not agree with Brown’s decision.

“I’m not aware of any delays in projects that put the projects at risk,” Harvey said. “I’m an engineer by background; I work hard to follow state law.”

She said DEC gave her an “outstanding” performance review in August and last year honored her for uncovering serious deficiencies in the oil industry's spill-response plans.

“I welcome anybody to come look at the state records and decide for themselves whether our reviews are substantial,” Harvey said.

Robert Watkins worked for Harvey, managing field inspectors who evaluate company spill plans. He said he was reassigned to an administrative job.

“We both did the best jobs we could,” Watkins said.

He plans to appeal his job change.