Take action now: Tell the Coast Guard to do more to prevent oil spills off the coast of Alaska!

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Birds, sea otters, harbor seals, and over twenty orca whales were killed.

Thousands of vessels move through Alaska’s nearly 4 million square miles of marine waters and along its 47,300 miles of coastline each year. Exxon Valdez showed that we can’t trust the shipping industry to do enough to prevent oil spills. We need the Coast Guard to step in.

Comments

Captain J.B. Loring
U.S. Coast Guard
Chief, Office of Marine Environmental Response Policy

Dear Capt. Loring:

The Coast Guard District 17 has a big job in watching over nearly 4 million square miles of Alaska’s marine waters and about 47,300 miles of coastline to make sure vessels are sailing responsibly. The waters of western Alaska are especially remote, present sea ice and extreme weather conditions, and have relatively little maritime infrastructure. With thousands of vessels moving through these waters every year, the risks of an accident and spill are sizeable.

So, it’s troubling that guidance for vessel response plans concerning western Alaskan waters (called alternative planning criteria or APC) does not emphasize preventive measures. These measures could include specific routes, areas to be avoided, and vessel tracking. Instead, the APC guidance for waters of western Alaska is entirely focused on oil spill response. Unfortunately, if oil from a ship is spilled into the waters of western Alaska, particularly in significant quantities, wildlife, commercial fishers, and subsistence hunters could be seriously impacted. Even if resources and personnel are deployed quickly, and even if sea conditions are calm, recovery rates for spilled oil are often quite low. And considering the enormity of western Alaskan waters and the remoteness of the region, not to mention the prevalence of rough weather, oil spill response often is impaired or cannot take place at all.
 
Therefore, we ask that the Coast Guard develop APC guidance for western Alaskan waters that emphasizes preventive features and makes sure APC administrators include these important elements in their plans. Relying on response alone is not enough to protect sensitive western Alaskan waters from the hazards presented by ocean-going vessels.

Thank you for taking these considerations into account as you move forward with crafting robust APC guidance.

Sincerely,

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