State of Alaska
Department of Environmental
Conservation
Spill Prevention and Response Division
Overview
Spill Reporting
Responsible Party
Spill Response in Alaska
Cougar Ace
Spill Planning and Preparedness in Alaska
Northwest Arctic Subarea Contingency Plan
Local Response
Recommendations
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Spill Reporting - Federal/State
Reporting Requirements
Report Spills to the NRC
at:
1 800 424-8802
The National Response Center is the SOLE national point
of contact for reporting Oil, Chemical, Radiological and
Biological discharges.
Responsible Party
 Spiller is responsible and liable for response, removal and
restoration
 The spiller’s response is a regulated activity under state and
federal law
 USGC, EPA or State of Alaska can augment or take over a spill
response if the RP is unwilling or unable
Selendang Ayu
Kuroshima
Spill Response in Alaska
 Roughly 2,000 spills per
year on the average
 Approximately 750-800
spills require a response
 Approximately 25-30
“significant” spills occur
annually
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The Overall Challenge
570,374 square miles - Alaska
35,600 miles – Alaska coastline
12,383 miles – US coastline
16,780 miles – BC coastline
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Response Challenges
 Respond to spills in any location within the state at any time
in challenging conditions with challenging logistics in
remote locations requiring remote operations
 Tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, lahars, ice conditions, sea
states, narrow passages and other environmental limitations
present unique challenges across the State of Alaska
 Marine vessels are transient, carry a known quantity of oil
and have been the source of the largest offshore spills in
Alaska
 Offshore drilling occurs in specific geographic areas
including 65 wells in the Arctic Ocean, 20 wells in the Bering
Sea and 653 wells in Cook Inlet
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Response Priorities
 Safety
 Protect state resources
 Contain, control and remove
 Mitigate impacts
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Response Strategies and Tactics
 Offshore operations: >three miles
 Near shore operations: Shoreline to three
miles
 Shoreline protection
 Inland waters and land
Six of sixteen Cook Inlet Platforms
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Response Strategies and Tactics
Strategies
Tactics
Shoreline
Offshore
Inland
Nearshore
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Spill Planning and Preparedness in
Alaska – Jurisdictional Authority
 Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires USCG and EPA to create a
National Contingency Plan, plus Regional and Area Plans
throughout the country
 Alaska Statute requires ADEC to develop a State Master Plan and
Regional Master oil spill response contingency plans
 The planning process includes local government participation
 Government Plans are approved by the state and federal On Scene
Coordinators responsible for implementing the response
 Federal and state law also require oil spill contingency plans for
certain “regulated” facilities
Alaskan Adaptation
 Under OPA 90, the entire State of Alaska is one federal
“Region” which requires its own plan. Three “Area” plans are
required for the USCG and one “Area” plan for the EPA
 Under Alaska Statute, ADEC is required to develop one State
Master Plan and ten “Regional” Plans
 Working cooperatively, USCG, EPA, and ADEC have created a
joint Unified Plan and ten “Subarea” plans that satisfy all
federal and State planning requirements
 The USCG and the EPA participate with ADEC in the State-
required public review process
Unified Plan for Alaska
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DEC’s Role in Planning
 Prepare Joint Federal/State Plans for spill
response using the Incident Command
System (ICS)
 Review and approve Industry Contingency
Plans with public review
 Develop and maintain ten Subarea Plans for
the State of Alaska
 Update Subarea Plans every five years
 Include local and regional input in subarea
spill response planning
 Formalize community response agreements
with local government for planning,
preparedness and response
Exxon Valdez
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Government versus Industry Plans
Government Plans
 Required based on a geographic
area
 Worst Case Discharge Scenario
for the geographic area
 No response planning standards
 Sensitive Areas Information
 Geographic Response Strategies
 Potential Places of Refuge
 Near shore response plans
 No dedicated equipment,
trained personnel or response
resources to execute tactics and
strategies
Industry Plans
 Required based on facility or
vessel type including offshore
exploration and production,
vessels, tank farms, railroad and
other regulated facilities
 Worst Case Discharge Scenario for
the facility
 Include response planning
standards
 Equipment, trained personnel and
response resources must be
available to meet state/federal
response planning standards
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Alaska’s Arctic Subareas
Beaufort Sea Oil/Gas
Lease Sale Area
Chukchi Sea Oil/Gas
Lease Sale Area
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Northern Shipping Routes
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Bering Strait
State Jurisdiction to 3 miles
Federal jurisdiction to 12 miles
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Northwest Arctic Subarea
Contingency Plan
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Northwest Arctic Subarea Plan
Major Components
 Response Section
 Resources Section
 Hazmat Section
 Sensitive Areas Section
 Background Section
 Scenarios Section
 Geographic Response
Strategies Section
 Potential Places of
Refuge Section
 Nearshore response plan
Support Documents
 Local Response
Agreements
 Alaska Incident
Management System
 Spill Tactics for Alaska
Responders Manual
 Tundra Treatment
Manual
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Subarea Plan Supporting Documents
Alaska Incident
Management
System
Guide
(AIMS)
For
Oil and
Hazardous
Substance
Response
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NW Subarea Committee
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NW Arctic Subarea Plan Schedule
 September 2010 - Public Outreach
Meetings – (Kotzebue and Nome)
 October – December 2010:
Outreach/Consultation
 April-June 2011: Alaska Regional
Response Team, Tribal Government
Review
 July-October 2011: Public Review
 November 2011: Plan Finalized
 June 2012: Nearshore Operations
Response Strategy Incorporated
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Subarea Planning Priorities
 Protect state waters and coastal areas from spill impacts
 Augment subarea planning preparedness from increased
risks from Arctic marine vessel traffic and offshore oil and
gas development
 Integrate local knowledge, personnel, equipment and
resources in planning and response
 Augment local response through Community Response
Agreements, drills, training and equipment
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Subarea Response Planning
 Environmentally sensitive areas and resources at risk
 Geographic Response Strategies
 Near shore Response Plans
 Potential Places of Refuge
 Emergency Towing Systems
 Local Response
 Drills
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Environmentally Sensitive Areas
Resources at Risk
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Geographic Response Strategies
63 site specific
geographic
strategies in
the Northwest
Arctic Subarea

Site specific response and protection
strategies to protect
environmentally sensitive areas and
resources at risk

Pre-identified operational tactics,
personnel and equipment
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Northwest Subarea Geographic
Response Strategies
23 GRS
30 GRS
10 GRS
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State Nearshore Response Planning
Initiative
Current buster
 Protect state waters
(0 – 3 miles) and
coastal resources
from impacts of oil
spills
Mini barge
 Develop specific
nearshore operations
response strategies
and tactics
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State Nearshore Response Planning
• Develop
strategies
and tactics
for detection,
containment,
control and
removal of oil
in state
waters which
extend out to
3 miles from
the shoreline
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State Nearshore Response Plan
 Identify nearshore response
zones for the northwest subarea
 Develop nearshore response
tactics for each zone for open
water and broken ice conditions
 Identify equipment, trained
personnel, response resources,
staging areas and logistical
support
 Develop the Unified Command
and control structure for
implementation using the
incident command system
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Arctic
Potential Places of Refuge
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Potential Places of Refuge Document
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Emergency Towing System
M/V Golden Seas
under tow by Tor Viking
with ETS
Atka to Dutch Harbor
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Local Response
 All responses are local
 Local knowledge
 Local response
 Local resources
North Slope Borough Village Response
Team – GC-2 Spill (March 2006)
 Local On-Scene Coordinator
 Drills, training and exercises
 Participation in the Incident
Command System
Local-Hire Worker – Selendang Ayu
Spill (April 2005)
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Community Response Agreements
 Formal agreement between
DEC and local community
 Activated by DEC’s State On-
Scene Coordinator for spills
in local area
 Local community reimbursed
by DEC for response
expenses when activated by
the State On Scene
Coordinator
 DEC requests CIP funding for
local equipment, training
and drills
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State of Alaska Local Response Assets
Planned for CY 2011
Spill Response Containers
Emergency Towing
Systems
Adak
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Drills
 “If you want to play in
the game you have to
come to practice…..”
Thad Allen
 Drills are regularly
conducted with
government and industry
oil spill plans
 DEC provides training to
local responders
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Drills
Local Responders Use Pre-developed GRS and Staged Spill
Response Equipment to Protect Critical Coastal Sensitive Areas
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Unified Command
Federal On-Scene Coordinator
FOSC
Represents all federal agencies and interests
State On-Scene Coordinator
SOSC
Represents all State agencies and interests
UNIFIED
COMMAND
Responsible Party’s On-Scene Coordinator
RPOSC
Represents the Responsible Party
Local On-Scene Coordinator
LOSC
Represents the local government
FOSC: Federal On-Scene Coordinator (US Coast Guard/EPA)
SOSC: State On-Scene Coordinator (ADEC)
LOSC: Local On-Scene Coordinator (while immediate threat to public safety exists)
RPOSC: Responsible Party On-Scene Coordinator (Spiller Designee)
INCIDENT
RESPONSE
Unified Command
Response Organization
UNIFIED COMMAND
SOSC
FOSC
RP IC
LOSC
COMMAND STAFF
Deputy IC/OSCs
OPERATIONS
SECTION
Field
Operations
Tactical
Response
Source
Control
PLANNING
SECTION
Safety Officer
Liaison Officer
Public Information Officer
Legal Officer
LOGISTICS
SECTION
FINANCE/ADMIN
SECTION
Recommendations
 The State should support national, international and trans-boundary efforts
to enhance northern waters spill response planning and preparedness,
response capability, infrastructure development and methods to reduce the
risk of oil spills from vessels and offshore oil and gas development.
 The State should support improvements to subarea contingency plans to
protect northern waters and coastal resources.
 The State should oppose efforts that would duplicate or supplant established
state and federal jurisdictional processes for northern waters oil spill
response planning and preparedness and insist that any new efforts and
initiatives acknowledge and build upon these existing processes.
 The State should support existing Alaska institutions and development of
new institutions here in Alaska with a focus on oil spill prevention and
response methods and technologies with application to northern waters.
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Recommendations
 The established state/federal jurisdictional process for oil spill
planning and preparedness in Alaska should be adequately resourced by
state and federal agencies to accommodate Arctic marine vessel traffic
and northern waters offshore drilling.
 The adequacy of the states conservation surcharge to support the states
spill prevention and response programs should be evaluated to augment
northern waters spill prevention, planning and preparedness and
incentivize local participation in subarea oil spill planning.
 The State should continue to support local involvement in spill prevention
and response and solicit local knowledge and resources for these
purposes.
 The State should support efforts to promote research into oil spill
prevention, fate and effects, and response strategies and technologies.
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Questions?
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