Dear Betsy Haines;
Appears it is
the time for a name change for your company, may I suggest the Pathetic Pipeline Service Company! For real, after 45-years, one would think the company could for
once get it right, at least when it comes to removing snow in earnest in
efforts to prevent Clean Air Act violations. By the way, it is already snowing
in Valdez, so what do you have planned this season for “what snow recovery”?
But to hear a concerned worker at the Alyeska Valdez Marine Terminal in the
year 2022 had to risk his or her career to file a complaint with the regulators
about uncontrolled releases of cancer causing “benzene & hydrocarbons”
because the low flow study you supervised said no need for snow shovels…as interim
I am sure you are trying to find out the name of that “whistleblower” likewise
every past President of Alyeska, in that “shoot the messenger” extravaganza. I
am sure that the worker(s) complained first to the local management, moving
that concern to outside interference when the concern of uncontrolled releases
of cancer causing “benzene” fell on deaf ears. Déjà vu? It was a simple task of
snow removal, no college diploma needed for that! But it is pathetic, the shoe
fits wear it, that this age-old problem still haunts Alyeska, and you have been
part of that “Cowitt Culture” since back in the early 90s, when that “shoot the
messenger” was Alyeska’s main objective to cover things up. Sad, that today
there is a management mindset that is still not listening, as no one wants to
become a “whistleblower”, but when push comes to shove and it is
the only outlet, good luck trying to defend Alyeska on this one. When I read
this complaint filed by a concerned employee with the National Response Center,
that was then re-distributed as a “Notification” to 25 different agencies with
oversight, it is a “Serious” matter. And then to hear that Egan justify her
position to tell a “fib” to white-wash a real problem in some lane bull-shit
about “We do things very methodically, very safely”…it assures me that Alyeska
is the same damn renegade it has always been. And what is so wrong with telling
the “Truth”? In this case, Egan should have said it so, that Alyeska has no
idea how much “benzene” entered the air we breath
when the snow removal on the storage tanks in Valdez went AWOL as did the
relief valves falling to the ground no longer capable of controlling the
atmosphere in those crude oil storage tanks. But maybe because Alyeska was
still contesting 38 OSHA violations categorized as “SERIOUS” from 2020, when I
believe you were the O&M VP, best bring back the cover-up artists as it
must be damage control once again! With this latest fiasco, it was an
uncontrolled “release” and let’s hope the regulators throw the book at Alyeska
for this yet another atrocity that should have could have been avoided if
someone was doing their job. Word of caution, you are falling into the age-old “Cowitt”
trap, you should have stayed home.
The "Whistleblower" Complaint:
INCIDENT DESCRIPTION
*Report taken by NRC on 19-MAR-22 at 18:25 ET.
Incident Type: FIXED
Incident Cause: OTHER
Affected Area:
Incident was discovered on 19-MAR-22 at 14:30 local incident time.
Affected Medium: AIR / ATMOSPHERE
_______________________________________________________________________
SUSPECTED RESPONSIBLE PARTY
Organization: VALDEZ MARINE TERMINAL
VALDEZ, AK
Type of Organization: PRIVATE ENTERPRISE
_______________________________________________________________________
INCIDENT LOCATION
300 DAYVILLE ROAD County: VALDEZ-CORDOVA
City: VALDEZ State: AK
_______________________________________________________________________
RELEASED MATERIAL(S)
CHRIS Code: BNZ Official Material Name: BENZENE
Also Known As:
Qty Released: 0 UNKNOWN AMOUNT
CHRIS Code: NCC Official Material Name: NO CHRIS CODE
Also Known As: HYDRO CARBON
Qty Released: 0 UNKNOWN AMOUNT
_______________________________________________________________________
DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
CALLER IS REPORTING THE RELEASE OF AN UNKNOWN AMOUNT OF BENZENE AND
HYDRO CARBON FROM A TANK FARM. THE RELEASED MATERIALS ARE GOING INTO
THE AIR AND ATMOSPHERE. THE CAUSE OF THE RELEASE IS DUE TO
NEGLIGENCE TO MAINTENANCE OF THE TANKS AT THE TANK FARM. THE CALLER
STATED THAT THE TANK FARM IS VIOLATING AIR QUALITY REGULATIONS.
