Oil spill prevention and response.

• Position: Alaska; Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.'s Ship Escort Response Vessel System

The spill of the tanker Exxon Valdez brought about the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which spelled many changes to the roles various agencies take in oil spill prevention and response. In the case of Prince William Sound, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company maintains a prevention and response plan for the 800-mile pipeline, the terminal at Valdez and tankers transiting Prince William Sound.

The budget for Alyeska's Ship Escort Response Vessel System (SERVS) is around $60 million annually. The SERVS program includes 200 employees and an array of equipment that includes skimmers and other oil recovery vessels; more than 105,000 feet of containment boom, six recovery barges and facilities with a total storage capacity of 780,000 barrels. Crowley has the contract with Alyeska to manage the spill equipment, and supplies the escort tug service for the company's tankers.

Alyeska also has 350 fishing boats on contract as part of its plan.

In a slightly different vein, 11 oil and gas companies in Cook Inlet formed Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. in 1990. The non-profit cooperative has assets that include 75,000 feet of containment boom, and skimming equipment capable of removing up to 15,000 barrels per hour.

When a big incident, such as the Kuroshima spill occurs in remote locations Alaska kicks into Unified Command, a consorted effort involving the ADEC, the U.S. Coast Guard and the responsible party. The three entities establish communications then scramble resources to the site.

In cases where chartering airplanes, buying equipment and hiring personnel overwhelms the pocketbook. the ADEC has access to $50 million the state has in reserve under its Oil and Hazardous Spill Response program. The funding for spill response comes from a levy of 2 cents per barrel - to ensure that cleanup can commence immediately regardless of the responsible party's financial solvency - while another 3 cents per barrel satisfies the state's operating costs associated with local spill plans and preparedness.

In the case of the Dutch Harbor spill, Kuroshima Shipping S.A., established its reliability and promptly went looking for bids, hence Erst/O'Brien got the cleanup contract and Crowley Marine Services, Inc. was to perform salvage operations in late January-early February. The cost of the cleanup to the ADEC as of February was $350,000. But costs to Kuroshima will likely reach into the multi-millions by the time spring rolls around and crews resume cleanup...