The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council will hold a board meeting in Anchorage on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 18-19, 2018. The meeting will be located in the Imagine Ballroom of the Embassy Suites, at 600 E. Benson Blvd.
The tentative schedule for the Thursday board meeting session is from 8:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. On Friday, the meeting is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. The meeting is open to the public, except for executive sessions. Public comments are tentatively scheduled to be taken Thursday starting at 8:55 a.m.
The council will be conducting regular business during the meeting, including updates from council ex-officio members, staff and committees. Other topics included on the agenda are:
• Presentations by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the council regarding the change in Alyeska’s marine services contract provider from Crowley Marine Services to Edison Chouest Offshore set to take place July 1, 2018. These services include key oil spill prevention and response assets such as escort tugs, oil recovery barges and associated personnel for service in Prince William Sound.
• A proposed board resolution regarding safe crude oil tanker operation in Prince William Sound, related to the marine services transition.
• A presentation by Glosten and Alaska Maritime Prevention and Response Network on research and development of a two-part ship arrest system, used to slow down the movement of a disabled vessel.
• A presentation by council staff on the status of amendments to the Prince William Sound Tanker Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan and Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plan. This will include an update on the status of the request for adjudicatory hearing regarding the terminal plan, which was submitted to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation jointly by the council, the City of Valdez, and Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation.
• A presentation by Philip Johnson, Department of the Interior, on the Alaska Regional Response Team’s development of dispersant use avoidance areas.
• A summary by council staff of incidents (e.g., oil spills, fires, malfunctions causing shutdowns, navigational closures, tanker/escort problems) for the terminal or tankers that have occurred in 2017.
The meeting agenda provided is subject to change before or during the meeting. Council board meetings are routinely recorded, and may be disseminated to the public by the council or by the news media. For more information, visit www.pwsrcac.org.
The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, with offices in Anchorage and Valdez, is an independent non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal and the oil tankers that use it. The council’s work is guided by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and its contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The council’s 18 member organizations are communities in the region affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as aquaculture, commercial fishing, environmental, Native, recreation and tourism groups.
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