Alex DeMarban
June 7, 2016
Two labor unions representing workers who provide oil-spill prevention services in Prince William Sound said on Monday they are launching an advertising campaign to stop Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. from canceling its ship-escort and spill-response contract with Crowley Marine and giving it to a nonunion company involved in the grounding of Shell's Kulluk drilling rig in 2012.
The Maryland-based International Organization of Masters, Mates and Pilots and the Seattle-based Inlandboatmen's Union will begin running a weeklong TV ad beginning Tuesday asserting that "corporate cost-cutting" by Alyeska Pipeline threatens the state's coastlines and an estimated 250 Alaska jobs, including 40 held by Alaska Natives.
The ad, as well as an online petition and plans for future advertisements, has been organized without any role of Crowley, union representatives said.
Alyeska Pipeline on Monday publicly confirmed that it intends to sign a 10-year contract with Edison Chouest Offshore that should be finalized this summer. The contract, if completed, would begin in July 2018.
Edison Chouest, based in Cut Off, Louisiana, is a nonunion company.
The unions' minutelong TV ad, to run on major stations during news shows in Anchorage and Juneau, says workers with Edison Chouest are training people in Louisiana who will take Alaska jobs.
"They'll work in Alaska, but they'll live in Louisiana," says the ad, featuring images of the Kulluk drilling rig in rough seas and pictures of Prince William Sound's snow-capped peaks.
Rick Fox, senior vice president and general manager for Alaska operations at Edison Chouest Offshore, said in an emailed statement that if selected for the Alyeska contract, the company will build a team with experienced vessel and shoreside operators and other personnel, he said.
"We envision having employees working and living in Valdez as being critical to successful operations," he said. "We look forward to having more Alaskans join ECO and will have an Alaska Native hire and development program. Training for employees will be in Alaska, in our state-of-the-art training facility in Louisiana, and other locations depending on the training needed."
He said Edison Chouest has a history of "safe and successful operations and a strong commitment to protecting the environment."
Edison Chouest successfully competed for the contract in a rigorous and objective bidding process, said Michelle Egan, director of corporate communications for Alyeska.
Alyeska Pipeline operates the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline and manages the contract for the Ship Escort-Response Vessel System — SERVS — on behalf of Alyeska's oil-company owners, principally BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.
Egan said the allegation that the company is cutting costs at the expense of the environment and the Alaska economy is not true.
"The process was highly competitive and consideration was given to a number of factors including safety record, services offered, technology and equipment, long-term costs and others," she said. "We are confident that the contractor will meet our high expectations for performance and meet all regulatory requirements for prevention and response."
Florida-based Crowley, which has provided marine services for Alyeska since 1990 and tanker docking services out of Valdez since 1977, announced in March that Alyeska Pipeline has chosen not to renew the company's contract after it ends in 2018.
News of the change alarmed observers in the Sound and union members worried about a repeat of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill that led to the creation of SERVS, union officials said.
Edison Chouest was faulted for errors by the U.S. Coast Guard during the investigation into the Kulluk grounding. It built and operated the Aiviq, which towed the Kulluk from Dutch Harbor in December 2012 and took it into the face of a fierce Gulf of Alaska storm. While much of the Coast Guard criticism was directed at Shell, which owned and operated the Kulluk, Edison Chouest personnel were also accused of blundering the tow.
Don Marcus, president of the Masters, Mates and Pilots union, said on Monday that the unions find it "unbelievable" that Alyeska is expecting to approve a contract with Edison Chouest.
"We think the citizens of Alaska won't be pleased when they learn of the recklessness of this decision," said Marcus. "This is more than a simple service contract. This is a contract affecting the economy, including fishing, and the environment. We don't need to go back to the Exxon Valdez to see that."
The two unions have about 10,000 members, most working in the U.S., Marcus said.
The unions' TV ad will urge viewers to sign an online petition asking Tom Barrett, president of Alyeska Pipeline, as well the chief executives of BP, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips, to "keep experienced Alaska workers on the job."
Not everyone who currently works for Crowley in Prince William Sound lives full-time in the state, but many do. One was Lara Wheeler, who has worked on tugs and barges for Crowley for 14 years, said she lives part-time in Alaska and part-time in the Lower 48.
In an interview Monday, Wheeler, 43, said she was born and raised in Alaska and was in Seldovia during the 1989 oil spill. On Monday, Wheeler said she was speaking to a reporter as a member of the Inlandboatmen's Union and not as a Crowley employee.
She said Crowley has the experience and training to prevent another spill.
"Crowley has the best track record for safety and the workers at Crowley have more expertise in oil spill prevention and response than any other group of people," she said.
Wheeler said other union members are concerned that Edison Chouest has attempted to buy off Alaska politicians by making large campaign contributions to the state's delegation.
"The word on the street is the wheels have been greased all the way to Washington, D.C.," she said.
Edison Chouest employees, family members and companies have been some of the top donors to members of Alaska's congressional delegation, including giving more than $250,000 to Rep. Don Young since 2008 in contributions to his campaigns and legal defense fund.
Matt Shuckerow, press secretary for Young, said it's not appropriate for Young to voice his opinion on a private contract that Alyeska is negotiating.
"Not weighing in is the appropriate thing to do," he said. "This is a decision for a private corporation to make."
Messages left for Sen. Lisa Murkowski's campaign and for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan weren't returned.
Carl Jones, 52 and a longtime chief engineer who lives in Palmer and worked for Crowley on the SERVS contract for 15 years until a year and a half ago, said he's concerned that Alaska politicians aren't speaking out about the contract change.
"Crowley has invested a huge amount of time and money in its people to get us 100 percent ready to do the job in Prince William Sound," said Jones, an IBU member who said he hopes to work for Crowley in the future once a shoulder injury heals.
Egan, with Alyeska Pipeline, said the company's review process is "not influenced by people outside of the team reviewing the bids."
"The review team is comprised of people who have expertise in this area," she said.
Fox, with Edison Chouest Offshore, said the company respects the strong interest in the contract.
He said the company, if selected, will work closely with local fishermen and communities, as well as Alyeska, the U.S. Coast Guard, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council, the official watchdog group.
Egan said there will be a two-year transition process once the new contract is finalized to help prepare Edison Chouest for the new role. Crowley, whose officials could not be reached for comment late Monday, has said it will be involved in the transition process.
Donna Schantz, executive director of the Regional Citizens' Advisory Council, said the watchdog group plans to be involved in the transition reviewing drills, equipment and Edison's Chouest's plans for ship escorts and preventing and responding to a spill.
"What we are concerned with is ensuring whoever has the contract is adequately trained and qualified," she said. "Any time you have a change of this magnitude, it can introduce a lot of risk if it's not handled carefully."
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