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Legacy Award Honor Roll
Legacy Awards 1999-2002 |
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| 2003 Legacy Awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legacy Awards 1999-2002 |
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The Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council of Prince William Sound, Alaska received a 2003 Legacy Award for its leadership of the Ice Detection Radar Project used to protect oil tankers transiting the Sound. The Regional Citizen’s Advisory Council (RCAC) received two nominations for this project, from both the US Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in Valdez, Alaska and the Alaska Tanker Company. Calving ice from the Columbia Glacier in upper Prince William Sound has been breaking off at an increasing rate, releasing icebergs into the shipping lanes approaching Valdez. These debris-laden, low-visibility icebergs pose an extreme all-season hazard for the crude oil tankers carrying approximately a million barrels of oil a day through Prince William Sound. Ice was a causal factor in the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 and in 1994 caused over $1 million in damage to the hull of the unloaded oil tanker Overseas Ohio. The RCAC spearheaded efforts to address the risks posed by icebergs in Prince William Sound by fostering cooperation among such diverse groups as federal, state, local, and tribal governments, the military, academic and citizens’ groups, and industry. They secured in-kind donations such as labor, vehicles, helicopter transport, tanker transport of the radar tower, and waivers of dockage, pilotage, and long shore fees. The RCAC also used a substantial portion of their own funding to initiate this project. NOAA, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and Oil Spill Recovery Institute also contributed significant funds, and the US Coast Guard donated the radar that would be used. Alyeska/SERVS provided the installation site on Reef Island, as well as the power needed to operate the radar and the microwave link to transmit the signal back to the Coast Guard. Alyeska and the Coast Guard provided radar expertise to ensure that the system worked properly. The Ice Radar became operational in December 2002; the signal is transmitted from Reef Island to both the SERVS Duty Office and the Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Center in Valdez where it is integrated into their vessel traffic monitoring system. Additionally, a data playback unit at the Prince William Sound Community College will be used for system verification exercises and training of watch-standers. The Ice Radar is already more than proving its worth by improving safety and preventing accidents. During the early morning hours of March 4, 2003, the ice radar showed a heavy concentration of ice in the shipping lanes. The Coast Guard closed the waterway and two oil-laden tankers were held at the port until the ice cleared, averting a potentially hazardous situation. A tugboat skipper later confirmed that the shipping lanes were wall-to-wall ice. John Devens, Executive Director of the Prince William Sound RCAC notes, "We're greatly honored to receive this award. The success of our Ice radar project illustrates once again what can be achieved when all the stakeholders in Prince William Sound -- citizens, regulators and industry -- cooperate for the common good."
Titan Maritime, LLC will receive a 2003 Legacy Award for their leadership of the team involved in spill response and recovery of oil leaking from the sunken vessel S/S JACOB LUCKENBACH, near the Gulf of the Farallons National Marine Sanctuary off the central California coast. The S/S JACOB LUCKENBACH sank in 1953 approximately 17miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, in 175 feet of water. It was only last winter, however, that officials identified the wreck as the source of “mystery oil spills” responsible for the deaths of thousands of sea birds over the last two decades. The project to remove oil from the tanks and interior spaces of the broken hull was led by Titan Maritime,LLC, which assembled a private and public-sector team that included American Marine, Clean Bay, Crowley Marine Services, Global Diving and Salvage, the National Response Corporation, PCCI Marine and Environmental Engineering, Divecon, West Coast Seaworks, Sound Hydrographic Services, Universal Services, the US Coast Guard Marine Safety Office in San Francisco, NOAA, the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response, and the California State Lands Commission. This team developed new and innovative equipment, strategies, techniques, and procedures to locate and access oil tanks, attach pumps, heat exchangers and other oil removal equipment, heat and mix the oil inside a tank, and eventually pump that oil to a surface barge. Significant innovations were numerous, including: Computer modeling of the wreck to aid visualization and record-keeping; acoustic navigation and a 6-point mooring system to precisely place the surface barge over the wreck; and system designs that allowed tools, heat exchangers, and pumps to be installed and removed with minimal risk of oil release. Nevertheless, open-water skimmers were on location during all dive work in case a spill occurred. After four months of continuous, strenuous, demanding, difficult, and sometimes dangerous work, no serious injuries had occurred, intermittent oil releases from the wreck were cleaned up, important technical and mechanical developments were made that will contribute to similar efforts worldwide, over 100,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil was successfully removed from the S/S JACOB LUCKENBACH, and countless sea birds and other sensitive wildlife will be protected from exposure to oil spills.
Sause Brothers Ocean Towing Company will receive a 2003 Legacy Award for their innovative commitment of resources to preventing oil spills. Sause Brothers initiated a program to build six new ocean-going tugs designed to reduce noise, improve ventilation, control engine room heat, and increase vessel stability in order to improve crew conditions and endurance, thus helping to prevent accidents caused by fatigue. In addition, Sause Brothers maintains a US Coast Guard certified training center for vessel and office personnel that includes a landmark module addressing crew alertness factors such as Circadian rhythms, diet, nutrition, exercise, and sleep/rest. Sause Brothers is also building state-of-the-art double hull tank barges, two of which will be in service this year. All six new barges will be constructed well in advance of federal requirements under OPA-90. Sause Brothers has implemented an internal Safety Management System and is certified as complying with the International Safety Management Code, ISO 9000, and the American Waterways Operator’s Responsible Carrier Program. In 2002 Sause Brothers distinguished itself and proved the effectiveness of its oil spill prevention initiatives by not having a single oil spill of any size while transporting 20 million barrels of petroleum products throughout the Pacific Region.
Margot Brown of Alameda, California will receive a 2003 Legacy Award for her leadership as a member of the San Francisco Bay Region Harbor Safety Committee, where she has helped develop tug escort standards for laden oil tankers and reduced shipping hazards associated with recreational boating. Margot Brown has represented the recreational boating community on the Harbor Safety Committee since its inception in 1991, bringing to that position experience on numerous recreational boating association boards, including eight years as executive director of the National Boating Federation. During her 12 years on the Harbor Safety Committee, Margot was one of three persons charged with the complex and politically-charged task of setting tug escort requirements for tank vessels on San Francisco Bay. After months of difficult meetings, the Committee reached consensus on recommendations that have now been promulgated as state regulations. Margot also chairs the Prevention Through People Workgroup of the Harbor Safety Committee, which is a group of diverse maritime professionals with varying backgrounds and opinions. Under Margot’s management-by-consensus style, the Workgroup’s products have been uniformly excellent. These include: