In 1989 nobody — not Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the State of Alaska, nor the citizens of Alaska — was prepared to respond to the massive oil spill resulting from the grounding of the Exxon Valdez.

Today, the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (PWSRCAC), formed in 1991, is charged to oversee oil spill prevention and response measures in Prince William Sound.

The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 required phasing out single-hulled tankers by 2015. It is estimated the Exxon Valdez spill would have been reduced by 60 percent had the ship been double-hulled.

The transition of the PWS tanker fleet is almost complete, with just one single-hull ship still operating.

Alyeska is required to provide tug escort to loaded tankers navigating the Sound. Alyeska’s Ship Escort Response Vessel System maintains a fleet of 11 tugs.

The law requires escort for only single-hulled tankers. PWSRCAC is calling for maintaining the tug escort system for double-hulled tankers.

“This issue is of the highest priority for the council. Eliminating 60 percent of the oil spilled isn’t enough,” Lisa Ka’aihue, director of administration for PWSRCAC said Wednesday at the Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association annual conference in Girdwood.

Icebergs pose the greatest navigational hazard to tanker traffic in the Sound, and ice detection radar was installed on Reef Island, near Bligh Reef in 2002.

Oil spill response also has been greatly improved.

“Some response techniques probably did more harm than good in 1989,” Ka’aihue said.

There was storage capacity of only 220,000 gallons for recovered oil in 1989, and skimmers had to halt cleanup operations until more storage was made available. Today there is a storage capacity of 34 million gallons of oil.

Only five miles of containment boom were on hand in 1989; today there are 52 miles of boom. There were only 13 oil-skimming systems in 1989; today there are more than 60, with a total recovery capacity of more than 12 million gallons in 72 hours.

Today there are better contingency plans in place. A fleet of more than 350 local fishing vessels participates in regular training for nearshore response.

Alaska is better prepared, but much work remains. There is lingering oil in the Sound and some animal populations have not recovered.

The introduction of non-indigenous species in tanker ballast water and on hulls is another matter of great concern to PWSRCAC. Presently, researchers have identified 15 non-indigenous species in Prince William Sound.

Mirror writer Harry Dodge can be reached at hdodge@kodiakdailymirror.com.