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The Oil Spill Task Force members gave their 2004 awards at their Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon on July 20th.
The Task Force gives Legacy Awards to recognize the work of organizations and individuals in both the public and
private sectors who have done outstanding work to prevent, prepare for, or respond to oil spills in our region,
and each of the 2004 Legacy Award winners is indeed a "Partner in Prevention", consistent with the 2004 Annual
Meeting theme.
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A 2004 Legacy Award was presented to the Alaska Tanker Company, LLC (ATC) in recognition of their extraordinary commitment to safety and oil spill prevention. ATC operates eight tankers that transit the waters of every member jurisdiction of the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force. During 2002 and 2003, ATC transported 13 billion gallons of crude oil with only 2 gallons being spilled, and they completed more than five million man-hours without a single lost time injury.
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ATC was the first US shipping company to become certified to the ISO 14001 environmental standard, and it has been recognized by both Alaska and Washington as well as by the US Coast Guard for its outstanding performance. ATC has conclusively demonstrated that preventing spills and injuries is not only the right thing to do, but is cost effective as well, having saved millions of dollars in injury claims, spill response costs, and insurance premiums.
ATC firmly believes that openly reporting near misses and losses of containment - and using this information as the basis for improvement - is a key factor in instilling the awareness and behaviors that prevent pollution. The following table shows that as the number of audits and loss of containment or near miss reports went up, the volume of spills and lost time injuries dropped dramatically.
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ATC has worked with the Seafarer’s international Union (SIU) to establish a dedicated employment pool of individuals who meet specific medical, fitness, training, and performance requirements. One of the values which the Task Force seeks in making Legacy Award decisions is partnership efforts, and in addition to the union, ATC has partnered with the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council and with the Pacific States/BC Oil Spill Task Force on spill prevention projects such as the Ice Detection Radar System, efforts to promote voluntary spill prevention efforts industry-wide, and efforts to plan for requests for Places of Refuge by ships in distress.
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Joan Lundstrom received a 2004 Legacy Award in recognition of her outstanding efforts to promote navigation safety – and therefore spill prevention - in the San Francisco Bay area.
Joan was a charter staff member of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission’s oil spill prevention program and later represented BCDC on the Harbor Safety Committee of the San Francisco Bay Region where she served as vice-chair for four years and continues to serve as a charter member. Her Harbor Safety Committee service includes:
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Preparing an analysis of the economic impacts of the San Francisco Bay tug escort regulations |
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Chairing the Tug Escort Workgroup |
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Chairing the Underwater Rocks Removal Workgroup |
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Chairing the Physical Oceanography Real-time System (PORTS) Workgroup |
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Being one of three members who wrote the initial Harbor Safety Plan |
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Chairing the Harbor Safety Plan Annual Update Workgroup |
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Co-chairing the Harbor Safety Committee Bylaws Workgroup |
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She continues to serve as a BCDC Commissioner and an active, contributing Harbor Safety Committee member.
In addition, Joan regularly attended meetings of the State Board of Pilot Commissioners and was appointed to their Regulations Subcommittee as a public member. Noted Scott Merritt of the Foss Maritime Company, former Vice Chair of the HSC, “Joan exhibits everything that’s right about government. She makes the “system” work by extracting a high level of performance from participants. Her leadership makes everyone be the best they can be. Through Joan’s efforts, the San Francisco Bay experiences a higher level of maritime safety which results in lower pollution and makes the SF Bay Region a safer, healthier and better place in which to live, work and enjoy recreation” Scott stated.
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The US Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Group/Portland received a 2004 Legacy Award in recognition of their international leadership in preventing waste oil dumping. The dedicated men and women of MSO Portland have developed and led a multi-agency partnership that seeks evidence of this illegal yet widespread practice by vessels. MSO Portland is recognized both nationally and internationally for their leadership on this issue.
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In partnership with the Washington Department of Ecology, US EPA, and the US Department of Justice, MSO Portland developed training workshops and videos, and has been invited to provide training in Australia, Europe, and throughout the US on how to investigate and prosecute waste oil dumping.
Because the MSO Portland team has taken an aggressive and comprehensive approach to investigating and prosecuting waste oil dumping, more than a dozen cases have been prosecuted, resulting in millions of dollars in penalties, jail time for offenders, and millions of dollars for environmental restoration projects in Oregon, Washington, and California as a result of plea agreements and settlements. More importantly, thousands of tons of waste oil have been kept out of the world’s oceans, thanks to the team at the Marine Safety Office in Portland.
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The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) Trade Shipping Companies – ConocoPhillips Marine/Polar Tankers, Inc; SeaRiver Maritime, Inc.; Tesoro Maritime/Seabulk Tankers;
and the Alaska Tanker Company, LLC received Legacy Awards in honor of their exceptional spill prevention efforts in 2003.
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Together, the TAPS trade shippers moved approximately 330 million barrels of Alaska North Slope crude oil from the Valdez Marine Terminal to various refineries on the West Coast without spilling a drop of oil into Alaskan waters. Nor did they have any spills into the waters of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California, or Hawaii, although transporting that amount of crude oil required approximately 452 tanker loads of product.
John Devens, Executive Director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, who nominated the TAPS Trade Shippers, noted that “2003 was the first year since tankers began transporting oil from Valdez without a single spill to Alaskan waters; therefore, we view a spill-free year as a significant milestone.” These operators have proven that overall, successful spill prevention can be attributed to “continued vigilance and a commitment to transport oil through our waters as safely as possible” as Mr. Devens points out.
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Legacy Awards 1999-2003
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