Port Valdez Environmental Studies: 1976-1978

All oily ballast water from the holds of tankers arriving at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline terminus in Valdez is pumped ashore for treatment before being discharged into Port Valdez. The Institute of Marine Science (IMS) of the University of Alaska conducted a three-year multidisciplinary program of studies to monitor the effect, if any, that this discharge would have upon the water quality and biota of Port Valdez. Consisting of eight separate projects and involving seven investigators, the IMS program (1)Extended substantially the baseline data for selected physical, chemical, and biological parameters; and (2)developed monitoring procedures as required to detect changes in the Port Valdez marine environment. The conclusion of these studies was that there had been no detectable impact during the term of this program on those elements of the environment that had been monitored prior to and following initiation of the treated ballast water discharge.