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The mission of the Congressional-mandated Prince William Sound Regional Community Advisory Committee (PWSRCAC) is to promote the “environmentally safe operation of the Alyeska Terminal and associated tankers,” so the previous rating was “Unfavorable.” It must be “perfect”.
The council helped reduce the risk of another disaster on the Exxon Valdez, but the loud underwater noise generated by the tanker and escort tugs (pervasive pollution emitted at the same low frequencies used) Other important environmental risks and impacts, such as chemical substances), are not addressed. by baleen whales for communication). Require full engine and steering system redundancy on all tankers transporting oil from Valdez to reduce the risk of grounding due to engine or steering failure. Reduce harmful stack emissions (SOx, NOx, PM 2.5, CO2) from tanker fleets. Tanker speeds will also be reduced to 10 knots to reduce the risk of ship strikes with the 11 species of whales that share the Prince William Sound and Gulf of Alaska routes.
For large ships, reducing ship speed to 10 knots has been shown to reduce whale strikes and underwater noise by about 50%, as well as reduce fuel consumption and stack emissions. But when a proposal to reduce ship speeds for tankers in Prince William Sound was considered at a recent board meeting, one board member complained that there were too many whales these days anyway, and the industry voluntarily decided to reduce tanker speeds. I complained about it even though I had dropped it to 10 knots. The two to three additional hours these speed reductions would add to Prince William Sound routes to protect whales in California waters could increase fatigue for bridge crews. Therefore, the Council overwhelmingly voted against the recommendation to reduce tanker speeds in Prince William Sound. This was exactly the result the industry was hoping for.
On this and many other environmental issues, the oil industry is currently displaying the same arrogance and resistance to environmental protection in Prince William Sound that it displayed before the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster. .
Additionally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency mandated to protect whales, has issued a shockingly inaccurate and unscientific assessment of the problem in Prince William Sound (out of 11 species of whales). Assessing the risk of ship collision for one type of ship). Therefore, the tanker’s request to slow down was rejected. Relying on this inaccurate federal assessment, tanker owners refused to act voluntarily. So, thanks to this trifecta of indifference and incompetence between NOAA, Prince William Sound tanker owners, and the Citizens Advisory Committee, the oil industry here in Alaska is once again spared from lowering environmental standards.
Today’s councils are crippled by their own political bureaucracies and are trapped by the very industries they are supposed to oversee. While some council members and staff passionately advocate the organization’s core environmental mission, the group as a whole is dominated by pro-industry/anti-environmental politics, which undermines the council’s fundamental purpose. It is. The council became a representative of the oil industry, rather than an oil industry watchdog.
Currently, funding for the Citizens Advisory Council comes directly from the oil industry (Alyeska Pipeline Service Company), so we would like to transfer that funding to the Federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, which would allow the Council to receive direct funding from oil. The time has come to insulate from the financial consequences. industry.
Additionally, existing Citizens’ Councils are authorized by the Oil Pollution Act 1990 (OPA 90) only as “alternative voluntary advisory groups” to replace certain Regional Residents’ Advisory Councils (RCACs) required by the Act. As such, they must be periodically recertified by the federal government for compliance with the requirements of the law. Does the current PWSRCAC actually fully meet the essential provisions of OPA 90, or should the government revoke the recognition of the current PWSRCAC as an Alternative Voluntary Council and proceed with the establishment of an effective RCAC itself? It is the federal government’s responsibility to reevaluate the This fully satisfies the national interest in providing independent environmental monitoring of oil transportation in PWS.
The Citizens Advisory Committee is a critical component of the environmental safety net for oil shipments through Prince William Sound, but it is on the wrong track and needs a course correction. The Council will cease to be a coquettish apologist for the oil industry and fully recommit to its vital environmental oversight mission, reducing oil’s environmental footprint, risks and impacts to the greatest extent possible. We need to hold the PWS oil industry to the highest global standards.
rick steiner An Anchorage marine conservation biologist, he served as marine advisor for the Cordova-based University of Alaska in Prince William Sound from 1983 to 1996 and was one of the 1989 PWSRCAC founders.
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