About the Author, Mark DeLoach

 

I grew up in Alaska, and had lived in the Prince William Sound for almost six
years between Cordova and Valdez, mostly while serving in the U.S. Coast
Guard.

 

In early March or 1989, I was just getting ready to move back to Alaska after
being in Ohio for about four years. I walked into the living room and turned on
the TV and saw for the first time the news on the EXXON Valdez sitting on
Bligh Reef. About a week later I was in Kodiak, Alaska getting ready for the
Commercial Salmon Season to start, and was working on a boat making it
ready for fishing.

 

After growing up in Eagle River, Alaska, I enlisted in the Coast Guard in August
of 1973. My first duty station was on the U.S.C.G.C. Sorrel out of Cordova,
Alaska, from April 1974 to Oct. 1975. That was a 180' Buoy Tender, which
serviced all of the "Aids to Navigation" in the Prince William Sound, as well as
other areas of Alaska's Gulf Coast. The Sorrel's crew also installed all of the
future Day boards and Buoy's for the future Tanker Traffic that was to come
out of the Valdez Oil Tanker Terminal, which is located at the end of the Trans
Alaskan Pipeline, which were both being built during that period.

 

From the U.S.C.G.C. Sorrel, I was transferred to a Lifeboat Station in
Ashtabula, Ohio. In 1977, I reenlisted for three more years to be transferred
to the newly constructed U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety/Vessel Traffic Office
in Valdez, Alaska. I was one of five personnel in the Marine Safety Office that
boarded the Tankers and did all forms of marine inspections, licensing and oil
spill response for the Coast Guard. It was then when we had many of the
future Tanker Captains come to Valdez.

 

All of the Tanker Captains were given tests for Inland Waterways for Prince
William Sound operational endorsements for their C.G. Licenses. This was
done in May, June and July of 1977 just before the oil started to flow to the
Valdez Terminal. At this time we were informed by the then station's
Commanding Officer, Commander Purdy, that "they" (Experts) fully expected
to have one tanker every six years to hit the rocks in one form or another.
That was considered the acceptable norm. Since no major accidents had
occurred, the State of Alaska and the Federal entities had allowed the
Alyeska Terminal to relax on the response programs to save money. By 1983,
pretty much all of the full time, Oil Spill response personnel were gone from
the Pipeline Terminal, as well as much of the equipment.

 

I got out of the Coast Guard when my seven years of enlistment expired in
August of 1980. I received an Honorable discharge and figured I was out of
the Oil Spill response business…..