Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring and Research Program

The first draft of "Gulf of Alaska Ecosystem Monitoring and Research Program (GEM) has been completed and is on the web at www.oilspill.state.ak.us AMS president and senior marine biologist Robert Spies, Chief scientific advisor to the Exxon Valdez Trustee Council, is one of the primary authors of the document. This document provides a plan for the long-term monitoring of the northern Gulf of Alaska GEM is being designed to last for at least 100 years and help make basic decisions on resource management in the face of great sources of natural and anthropogenic change.

Dr. Spies was also one of the primary authors of a report on cruiseship waste disposal in Alaska. The report was prepared for the Northwest Cruiseship Association by a consortium of scientists working for the Alaska Sea Life Center. Dr. Spies provided sections of the report dealing with priority pollutants in wastes, their dispersal and potential for effects. Data gathered on discharges in the summer of 2000 and modeled for dispersion factors indicated that entail dilution of wastewater in the ocean resulted in concentrations of all measured constituents to below national EPA Water Quality Criteria.

Exploratory Oil Drilling in Kazakhstan

In August, AMS hosted a visit to the USA by two visitors from Kazakhstan. Through Dane Hardin's contacts with scientists and the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan, AMS was approached by the Zhetysugas company to provide assistance through the EcoLinks program funded by the US Agency for International Development. AMS will help Zhetysugas, which distributes liquefied petroleum gas, to evaluate their waste stream and reduce their discharges of contaminants to the environment through implementation of American technology.