An Alaskan commission has recommended that the state take tighter control of oil pipelines and tankers.
The Alaska Oil Spill Commission, formed to investigate the Exxon Valdez accident in Prince William Sound last March, made 59 recommendations for action by the state government, federal government, and industry.
Walter Parker, commission chairman, said the Exxon Valdez accident could have been prevented if Alaskans, state and federal governments, the oil industry, and the American public had insisted on "stringent safeguards" and if the vigilance that accompanied construction of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline in the 1970s had continued in the 1980s.
The report noted the state passed a law in 1976 giving its agencies broad authority to regulate tanker traffic to Valdez, but the following year oil companies sued in federal court, charging the state had encroached on federal powers.
"By 1979," the commission said, "plaintiff companies had gained a favorable ruling from the U.S. District Court and negotiated concessions from the state. The result was a gutting of key provisions in the legislation."
OPERATIONS RELAXED
Parker said tanker lanes into Port Valdez originally were set to insure the maximum feasible level of safety in tanker operations. Restrictions were imposed to limit operations in high winds.
Agreements among the state, industry, and Coast Guard established that when ice was encountered, ships would proceed at minimum speed in the lanes rather than proceeding outside the lanes at sea speed, as did the Exxon Valdez.
Parker said, "The original rules were consistently violated, primarily to ensure that tankers passing through Prince William Sound did not lose time by slowing down for ice or waiting for winds to abate.
"Concern for profits in the 1980s obliterated the concern for safer operations that existed in 1977. This disaster could have been prevented by simple adherence to the original rules.
"Human beings do make errors.
"The precautions originally in place took cognizance of human frailty and built safeguards into the system to account for it.
"This state-led oversight and regulatory system worked for the first 2 years until the state was preempted from enforcing the rules by legal action brought by the oil industry. After that, shippers simply stopped following the rules, and the Coast Guard stopped enforcing them."
RECOMMENDATIONS
Among its recommendations, the state commission said tank farm capacity at Valdez should be increased to meet the original design requirement for maximum throughput.
"Limited storage capacity at the Alyeska terminal can create undue pressure on loading and shipping schedules of tankers calling at Valdez," it said. "Shortage of storage capacity could lead terminal operators to load tankers under otherwise marginal weather conditions, for example, to avoid an expensive slowdown or shutdown of the pipeline."
It said the state should adopt stringent standards regulating transportation of oil in its waters and empower itself to assume control of spill cleanups in state waters. Oil spill liability legislation Congress is expected to pass this spring would allow Alaska to do that.
The state also should expand and exercise its authority over environmental safety, including inspections and spill response drills on vessels calling at Alaska ports.
The commission said the state should set rigorous requirements for private oil spill prevention and response from the Aleutian Islands to the Arctic.
Also the state should review the environmental safety of the trans-Alaskan pipeline.
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