Oil spill response training is a community event

Boats from Cordova practice using floating oil recovery booms during an oil spill recovery drill offshore of Cordova on May 1. Participating fishermen were contracted by the Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, SERVS. Photo by David Little/For The Cordova Times

Oil spill response training is a critical event for coastal Alaska fishing communities and the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council is making its second annual effort to keep residents aware of how and why this exercise unfolds.

To that end, the PWSRCAC invited a number of Cordova residents on May 1 to observe that training at sea, aboard a U.S. Coast Guard certified Stan Stephens Cruises catamaran.

Fishermen from the Cordova area trained in oil spill response techniques on May 1, under contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, also known as SERVS. Photos by Brooke Taylor

The crowd of 70-plus residents that boarded the catamaran for the three-hour lesson in oil spill response included 40 students from Cordova Junior/Senior High School.

Local fishermen contracted by the Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, also known as SERVS, participate in the training, so they are ready to respond in the event of a Prince William Sound tanker or Valdez Marine Terminal oil spill. Many residents not involved in SERVS learned on May 1 about oil spill response technology, tactics, and how this program helps Alyeska operate safely in Prince William Sound.

SERVS is the oil spill response organization operated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, which coordinates annual oil spill response exercises in many Southcentral Alaska communities, including Cordova.

“Knowledge is power,” said Jessica Guibes, whose sister Jennifer Christensen lives in Cordova. “If everyone knows, everyone can pull together and make cleanup more efficient, which in turn protects the environment, which protects the fish, which is their livelihood.”
“I like to see all these people from around different places in the Sound working to protect something that we all benefit from,” said Madelyn Roemhildt, one of the students on board.

Advertisement
Fishermen from the Cordova area trained in oil spill response techniques on May 1, under contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.’s Ship Escort/Response Vessel System, also known as SERVS. Photos by Brooke Taylor

The PWSRCAC event helps keep communities informed on what oil spill prevention and response measures are in place in Prince William Sound, especially those led by their local fishermen. Narrators from both the council and Alyeska were on board to help participants understand the training. The council expressed appreciation for support received for the training event from Alyeska, Copper River Watershed Project, and Stan Stephens Cruises.

Since the inception of SERVS after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the council has been highly supportive of local fishermen and mariners being trained annually with the best available technology to prepare for oil spills, said Brooke Taylor, director of external communications for the council.

“This system helps ensure the most comprehensive response measures are in place for both open water and nearshore resources,” she said. “A major lesson of the Exxon Valdez spill is that incorporating local mariners into the spill response system helps ensure a quick, efficient, and effective response.

“Cordova mariners have the most intimate knowledge of, and connection to, the waters near Cordova. Their involvement would help protect the most sensitive areas, such as hatcheries and spawning streams, from spilled oil,” she said.

A Crowley Maritime tug was among the vessels participating on May 1 in the Ship Escort/Response Vessel System training in Cordova. The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council invited local residents to come aboard a Stan Stephens Cruises catamaran to see for themselves how training exercises worked.
Photo by Brooke Taylor

The council’s first fishing vessel oil spill response training tour was held last year in Seward. Future tours are tentatively planned in other Southcentral Alaska communities. The council hopes that through such programs communities will understand the importance of oil spill prevention and having the most robust response strategies in place in the event of a spill.
For more information on council projects and events, 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 Co. 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.

Advertisement