Terminal Operations

Ballast Water Treatment Facility
PWSRCAC monitors air and water pollution associated with the Ballast Water Treatment Facility (BWTF). Incoming tankers use ballast water for navigational stability. All ballast water carried in the vessels’ empty oil tanks mixes with oil residues. These residues must be removed from the water before it can be discharged and can’t be returned directly into Port Valdez. The BWTF uses a three-stage process to remove these potentially harmful hydrocarbons before discharging ballast water into the port.

Valdez Air Quality
The council is concerned that volatile organic compounds, specifically hazardous air pollutants, and other pollutants emitted from processes at the VMT may be affecting the quality of life in Valdez. The purpose of this project is to quantify, measure, regulate, and ultimately reduce concentrations of hazardous air pollutants in Valdez and at the terminal.

Fire Protection Systems
PWSRCAC is facilitating the planning, execution and review of Alyeska`s fire protection assets and personnel at the VMT. The council`s contractors, staff, and volunteers are defining objectives and other details related to performance of fire protection systems and training of personnel.

Seismic Studies of the VMT
Since better seismic engineering is now available for asset protection and because the 1964 earthquake is now believed to have been more severe than originally thought, PWSRCAC is concerned that the seismic protection of Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) assets may not be adequate for an earthquake of the size that occurred in 1964. Specific concerns are the stability of containment dikes and earth and rock support around the various storage tanks, and the structural integrity of all oil handling components.

Reconfiguration of the VMT
Declining oil production on the North Slope, along with the need to modernize and automate 30-year-old facilities, have fueled Alyeska’s plans for system-wide upgrades, or Strategic Reconfiguration. The goal is to simplify complex facilities and replace obsolete or obsolescent facilities. The council is monitoring Alyeska’s proposed changes for the VMT to ensure that any changes will not increase emission of air pollutants and discharge of water pollutants from the VMT.

NPDES Permit Renewal
The EPA`s National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the Ballast Water Treatment Facility underwent its five-year renewal. PWSRCAC recommended stricter environmental monitoring requirements be included in the new permits. The final NPDES permit was issued by the EPA on January 21, 2005, without the stricter environmental monitoring requirements.

Right-of-Way Renewals
The agreements and grants of right-of-way for the trans-Alaska pipeline between state and federal governments and the pipeline`s owner companies are scheduled to expire in 2004. The council was an active participant in the renewal process by seeking opportunities to include provisions for improving the environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal. The process was completed at the end of 2002 when the federal and state governments executed a 30 year renewal.

Corrosion Abatement
At the time of its original design, the useful life of the VMT was thought to be 30 years and many of the subsystems and components were designed accordingly. The lifetimes of most VMT components are limited due to wear by mechanical action and corrosion, which is due to electrolytic currents and the handling of inherently corrosive fluids. The council contracted an examination of Alyeska corrosion reports, its corrosion database, and a field inspection of the VMT.

Microbial Efficiency
This project studies the biodegradation of hydrocarbons at the Ballast Water Treatment Facility. The council compared two hydrocarbon removal methods: oil-eating bacteria and an aeration process. The microbial activity converts the hydrocarbons to harmless compounds, and the aeration simply removes hydrocarbon pollutants from the ballast water and transfers them into the air. The council commissioned a study in early 2004 to measure the microbial efficiency of the biological treatment process at the BWTF. Alyeska commissioned a more comprehensive study that was executed in parallel with the council’s study. Both studies confirmed that microbial degradation of oil in the Biological Treatment Tanks was very efficient; however, both studies also confirmed the existence of significant sources of air pollution from the turbulent ballast water flows present in parts of the BWTF. This project is complete.

State of the Environment
This project seeks to identify cumulative, adverse, long-term environmental effects from large quantities of pollutants introduced into Valdez’s air and water after 25-plus years of operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal.

Reliability Centered Maintenance at the Valdez Marine Terminal
This project seeks to verify that the maintenance required of each facility and subsystem at the VMT of concern to PWSRCAC has been identified by means of an RCM process. Additionally, this project seeks to verify that maintenance of VMT facilities is being accomplished in accordance with the dictates of the RCM reports produced for each of the VMT’s facilities and subsystems.