Federal Funds to Eyak for Spill Response Facility

Shepard Point at the entrance of Nelson Bay, nearly 7 miles north of Cordova.

NATIVE VILLAGE OF EYAK

Federal money for the Native Village of Eyak will pay for construction of a road to a spill response facility at Shepard Point, north of Cordova.

Last of Three to Be Built

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) awarded $45.7 million to improve access to the Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation Oil Spill and Marine Casualty Response Facility, yet to be developed. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill consent decree identified a need for three such response facilities to protect Prince William Sound. The other two have already been constructed, and Shepard Point would be the third.

“The tribal members of the Native Village of Eyak have been stewards of the region for thousands of years. It is appropriate that we are the ones that take the steps to protect the lands and ocean,” says Native Village of Eyak Chairman Mark Hoover. “It is our responsibility to be good stewards of the region and protect our cultural heritage for the future.”

The FHWA grant marks the second time the Native Village of Eyak has been selected to receive project funding. The agency previously awarded $40 million to the village. With both grants, there is sufficient funding for project construction beyond the planning, permitting, and design funds provided by the original settlement.

The project is one of the largest Alaska tribal construction projects recently funded by the federal government. This comes from the FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Project program, which requires no matching funds from tribes. The grant provides federal funding for construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of multi-modal transportation facilities within or adjacent to federal or tribal lands.

Shepard Point will be a deep-water port with storage for materials needed to respond to marine accidents, transportation incidents, and other situations that arise, both in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Cordova lost its deep-water port because of the uplift during the 1964 earthquake. The need for a deep-water port at Shepard Point became more evident during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, when the Valdez airport was shut down for days at a time and Cordova’s all-weather airport was not as useful because of the inability to deploy materiel onto the water.

5.5-Acre Base

A diagram of the proposed spill response facility and deep-water dock at Shepard Point.

NATIVE VILLAGE OF EYAK

Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and the late Congressman Don Young were instrumental in securing the funding. In addition, Governor Mike Dunleavy and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities have been involved in establishing a right of way for the access road.

“We are extremely thankful for this grant and what it means for the project,” Hoover says. “Our communities and our neighbors in Prince William Sound will have access to critical environmental protection facilities because of this project and the funding to make it happen.”




Murkowski, Sullivan Welcome over $45 Million DOT Grant to the Native Village of Eyak to Benefit Oil Spill Response Facility

Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan (both R-AK) today announced $45.7 million in a U.S. Department of Transportation grant has been awarded to the Native Village of Eyak. This funding will allow for a 4.2 mile highway extension to connect to Cordova’s existing road system at Orca Creek to the Shepard Point Oil Spill Response Facility.

“The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in the release of roughly eleven million gallons of crude oil into the open ocean, impacting more than 1,300 miles of coastline. Over three decades later, communities throughout Prince William Sound are still feeling the impacts. It was a tragic event which served as a catalyst for shaping America’s oil spill response methods,” said Senator Murkowski. “The construction of the Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation & Oil Spill Response Facility is a long-standing, top priority for the Native Village of Eyak for years. I’m proud to have helped ensure they have the dedicated infrastructure in place to protect the environment.”

“The DOT highway funding announced this week for an extended road to the Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation (MTT) & Oil Spill Response (OSR) Facility, coupled with the $40 million grant announced last year for the facility itself, will help the Eyak people protect their way of life and provide economic opportunities,” Senator Sullivan said. “I am pleased to see key provisions of the bipartisan infrastructure legislation I negotiated in the Environmental and Public Works (EPW) Committee finally come to fruition. By helping prevent any future spill from becoming an ecological disaster, the fishing, tourism and resource development industries in the Prince William Sound and Copper River Delta region stand to benefit.”

“All of us at the Native Village of Eyak would like to thank Senator Murkowski, Senator Sullivan, and their staff for their hard work and commitment to the Shepard Point project. Their support through the grant process has been critical to ensuring our community, state and nation are never again unprepared for a catastrophe like the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989. We are honored to receive this award and promise to be good stewards in its use,” said Bert Adams, Executive Director of the Native Village of Eyak.

The NSFLTP Program was reauthorized and funded through H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Senator Murkowski played a lead role in writing and negotiating.

This funding announcement dovetails a January 2021 grant of $40.1 million awarded to the Native Village of Eyak from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

FHWA Announces $45.7 Million Grant to Alaska’s Native Village of Eyak to Improve Multi-Modal Transportation Access to Oil Spill Response Facility

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Grant will fund transportation access to improve marine support services, emergency response

Contact: FHWA.PressOffice@dot.gov
Tel.: (202) 366-0660

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced it is providing a $45.7 million grant to the Alaska’s Native Village of Eyak to construct a highway, dock support facilities and boat ramp at the Marine Tribal Transportation and Shepard Point Oil Spill Response Facility. The grant will improve transportation access to the facility, which is currently under construction and will serve as a multi-modal transportation and oil spill emergency response center for tribal members and the broader community of Cordova and the surrounding area.

“Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we’re now modernizing more of the infrastructure that creates opportunity in tribal communities,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “Today, we’re proud to award over $45 million to improve transportation access to the Marine Tribal Transportation and Shepard Point Oil Spill Response Facility in Alaska.”

“The grant we’re providing will help the Native Village of Eyak and surrounding communities respond to oil spills and other emergencies more effectively,” said Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollack. “We’re proud to partner with the Tribe on transportation improvements that will help protect the environment and prepare for events in the future by putting in place infrastructure that improves the safety and well-being of the Village and the Cordova community.”

This is the second time the Native Village of Eyak has been selected to receive funding for the project from FHWA and builds on a $40 million grant provided in Fiscal Year 2020. The facility is a long-time priority for the tribe following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and will provide a central location for tribal members and the broader community to develop marine support services. The marine emergency response component of the project is expected to increase capabilities in the event of a wreck, marine vessel fire, injury or fatality by significantly improving oil spill and emergency response times for vessels in distress within the local and surrounding vicinity.

Funding for the grant is made possible through FHWA’s Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Project program and reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on serving Tribal communities. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law made significant changes to the program by increasing annual authorizations from $100 million to $355 million and ensuring tribal transportation facilities receive 50% of the appropriated funds. Critically, Tribes can apply for funding at 100% federal share with no matching requirement, a historic barrier for Tribal access to infrastructure funding.

The program provides Federal funding for construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of multi-modal transportation facilities that are situated within, adjacent to, or provide access to Federal or Tribal lands.  A project of national significance is typically a higher cost project that federal land management agencies and tribal governments cannot normally afford to build because the project would exhaust their financial resources. The project is also considered important to the well-being of the area where the project is located and surrounding community, supports safe access to popular destinations such as National Parks, or provides critical transportation support for hospitals and schools on Tribal lands.

Funding is also now available for Fiscal Year 2022 Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects in a Notice of Funding Opportunity and builds on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s efforts to improve the safety of the nation’s roadways for all road users. A key element of these efforts is the Department’s recently announced Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) discretionary grant program that will provide $1 billion in Fiscal Year 2022 to support regional, local, and Tribal plans, projects and strategies that will prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries. The SS4A program supports the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy and goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our nation’s roadways.

FHWA also recently announced a Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund NOFO of up to $120 million for Fiscal Years 2022 through 2026, made possible by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. To further assist the 574 federally recognized Tribes in addressing their transportation needs, FHWA has developed Transportation Funding Opportunities for Tribal Nations, a brochure that provides information on new highway programs created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as well as existing highway and bridge transportation funding programs. FHWA also has a Questions and Answers document for Tribes interested in undertaking bridge projects. The Department also has the DOT Navigator, a new resource to help communities understand the best ways to apply for grants, and to plan for and deliver transformative infrastructure projects and services.

NVE proposes modifications to Shepard Point project

USACE welcomes comment on new proposal through March 7

By Margaret Bauman - February 12, 2022

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials have opened a public comment period through March 7 on a proposal from the Native Village of Eyak to modify its existing permit, approved in 2017, for its oil spill response facility and deep-water port in the Shepard Point.

Construction on the project, funded through a $40 million federal transportation grant to NVE, was set to begin in early 2022, but now faces delays because of the request to modify the plan.

Once the comment period ends, the Corps will look at the substance of the comments and make a decision within 90 to 120 days on whether to approve the modifications, according to USACE spokesman Bryan Herczeg. The proposed modifications are design changes which would purportedly have less impact on waters of the United States, he said.

The proposed permit modifications would include road realignment near Humpback Creek; reduction of road length from 4.5 miles to 4.32 miles; a bridge over No-name Creek rather than Orca Creek; increasing the pad and staging area of the Shepard Point pad from 3.5 miles to 5.5 miles; installation of interlocking steel sheet pile retaining wall at the pad and staging area; and a change in configuration of the boat ramp.

A seventh proposed modification asks for removal of a special condition from the permit that NVE said prevents impacts om two properties eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.

NVE’s executive director Bert Adams, was traveling on personal leave and not immediately available for comment on the proposed modifications.

Carol Hoover, executive director of the Eyak Preservation Council, meanwhile urged comment to the Corps on the proposed modifications.

“This is every Cordovan’s chance to be heard,” Hoover said.

“The question: ‘Is turning Cordova into a port city in the long-term best interest of our fishing community?’ Some believe so. Some believe not. Whether it be for oil spill response, the cruise ship industry, creating another income generator, or just building another road to drive down, your voice will make a difference, or be the difference,” she said. “Write to the Army Corps of Engineers about this road and deep-water port project during this comment period.”

All comments regarding the proposed modifications should be sent to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Alaska District Regulatory Division, CEPOA-RD, 2204 3rd Street, P.O. Box 6898, JBER, Alaska 99506-0898, or via email to regpagemaster@usace.army.mil.

The full text of the Corps public notice with associated maps and drawings, is at poa.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/PublicNotices.aspx.

The project is to include a dock and small port to serve as the proposed Shepard Point Marine Transportation and Oil Spill Response Facility, as well as a central location for tribal members and members of the broader community to develop marine support services.

NVE’s Adams said earlier that the facility would allow the Tribal government to protect and preserve the important traditional resources in the region. In an earlier statement on the project, in January 2021, Adams noted that the Eyak people have been stewards of the lands and waters of this area for thousands of years.

“Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) settlement the Eyak people strived to secure a spill response facility on the Cordova side of Prince William Sound, to protect habitat and traditional resources,” he said. “This facility is the third and final oil spill response center mandated by the EVOS settlement, in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Prince William Sound, and the last one to be approved and funded under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program.”

Construction to begin in 2022 on Shepard Point project

Environmental consultant retained to ensure compliance with all permits

By Margaret Bauman - January 29, 2021

Shepard Point, a deep-water access site near Cordova. Photo courtesy of Native Village of Eyak

Construction is set to begin in early 2022 on an oil spill response facility at Shepard Point, funded through a $40 million federal transportation grant to the Native Village of Eyak.

The project is to include a dock and small port to serve as the proposed Shepard Point Marine Tribal Transportation and Oil Spill Response Facility, as well as a central location for tribal members and members of the broader community to develop marine support services.

The facility will allow the tribal government to protect and preserve the important traditional resources in the region, said Bert Adams, executive director of NVE.

“The Eyak people have been stewards of the lands and water for thousands of years,” he said. “Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) settlement the Eyak people strived to secure a spill response facility on the Cordova side of Prince William Sound, to protect habitat and traditional resources. This facility is the third and final oil spill response center mandated by the EVOS settlement, in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Prince William Sound, and the last one to be approved and funded under the Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program.

It will allow access for deep-water draft vessel and a road connection from the facility to the all-weather Merle K. (Mudhole) Smith Airport. Approval for the section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was received in October 2017, after more than 16 years of studies by federal and state agencies. Now the project is in the final stages of design and NVE has retained an environmental consultant to ensure compliance with all state and federal permits, Adams said.  It also has the support of NVE, Chugach Alaska Corp., the city of Cordova, the Eyak Corp. and Alaska’s congressional delegation. Construction of the oil spill response facility will help ensure that NVE and the surrounding region have the tools and data necessary to respond to potential future disasters, they said.

The delegation announced the grant, which totals $40,199,275, on Jan. 22.

Tribal leaders said that NVE took the lead in soliciting funds from the Federal Highway Administration and over the past two decades worked to design and redesign the facility to minimize and mitigate adverse environmental impacts of the project while presenting a facility to protect the region when another oil spill occurs.

The considerable efforts of NVE notwithstanding, there are some people opposed to the port project.

Dune Lankard, founder and president of the Native Conservancy in Cordova, feels that the $40 million would be better spent upgrading the harbor and restoring main street and investments that would be beneficial to the community in these climate changing times.

Carol Hoover, executive director of the Eyak Preservation Council, also voiced concerns. She questioned the real overall cost of the project, which she estimated would far exceed the amount of the federal grant.  She also questioned the potential danger of avalanches and landslides in the area of the project, which she said cannot be effectively mitigated. And deep draft barges can as come alongside the ocean dock in Cordova now as needed, she said.

Oil spill response facility to be built at Shepard Point

Approval from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers comes after more than 16 years of study

By The Cordova Times

Shepard Point, a deep-water access site near Cordova. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved construction of oil spill response facility with access to the all-weather airport at Shepard Point, Native Village of Eyak announced on Oct. 16. Pho…

Shepard Point, a deep-water access site near Cordova. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved construction of oil spill response facility with access to the all-weather airport at Shepard Point, Native Village of Eyak announced on Oct. 16. Photos courtesy Native Village of Eyak

An oil spill response facility at Shepard Point, a deep-water access site near Cordova, with access to the all-weather airport, has received construction approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Native Village of Eyak announced on Oct. 16.

Approval came after more than 16 years of study by federal and state agencies. The project has the support of NVE, Chugach Alaska Corp., the city of Cordova, the Eyak Corp. and Alaska’s congressional delegation, NVE officials said.

The facility was one of three such facilities outlined in a federal court approved consent decree to resolve litigation in the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Tribal leaders said that NVE took the lead in soliciting funds from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, and over the last two decades worked to design and redesign the facility to minimize and mitigate adverse environmental impacts of the project. They also said they were pleased with the Corps’ decision on location of the site as the preferred alternative, and that it is the only available site to locate a deep draft dock near Cordova that will allow for quick response to Prince William Sound in the event of an oil spill or other incident.

Once completed, the facility will significantly improve oil spill response times and allow for docking and resupply of the same type of deep-draft emergency response vessels that were employed for cleaning up after the Exxon Valdez disaster of March 24, 1989. It will allow large vessels from SERVS (Ship Escort/Response Vessel System) to dock during drills, regardless of tide.

The devastating impact of the disaster was a driving force behind the tribe’s efforts for construction of the new facility.

“The Native Village of Eyak saw our environment decimated during the spill,” said Darrel Olsen, NVE tribal council chairman. “We agree that Shepard Point, a naturally occurring deep water port with quick access to the sound, is the best place for the oil spill response facility.”

“We are pleased to be moving forward with this important facility after decades of study and discussion,” said Kerin Kramer, NVE’s executive director. “We know the residents of this area of Prince William Sound will be better protected with this facility in place.”

The facility will be accessible via a 4.5-mile single lane gravel road. Concerns about impact to vegetation, such as eelgrass and other relevant issues, led the tribe to take a step back and develop a new design for the road, to ensure that environmental impacts were minimized and mitigated, NVE said.

The dock will be pile driven to minimize fill requirements. Oil spill equipment, supplies, containers and storage units will be located at the Point to respond to a variety of spills much more quickly than other potential sites, including the aging Cordova city docks.

“The development of Shepard Point in Cordova will add a dedicated oil spill response facility to the area and to the direct benefit of Prince William Sound,” said Alan Lanning, Cordova city manager. “An asset such as Shepard Point will allow for an increased efficiency and effectiveness to any oil spill response and further utilize a deep water port, which does not currently exist.”

The Shepard Point facility is the last of three such facilities designated in the Exxon Valdez consent decree. The other two are already constructed.

Throughout this process, the Native Village of Eyak has focused on protection of the environment. NVE has focused on mitigating the impacts of the road and port facility. The road and response facility have been designed and redesigned to minimize impacts to fish streams, eelgrass and sub and intertidal area. Protection of the sound, while minimizing impacts of the port, have been NVE’s continued focus.

Key points:

  • Shepard Point allows for large deep draft vessels to load supplies
  • A recent study shows that responding from the Shepard Point location can save 19 more miles of coastline than other places in the Inlet
  • The location allows instant response to oil spills – there is no need to wait for tides to be able to deploy
  • Allows road access to an all-weather major airport
  • Provides large spill response vessels to dock during drills
  • Empowers the Tribe to exercise self-determination to protect traditional lands and lifestyle

Partners in the process with NVE are Chugach Alaska Regional Corp., Eyak Corp., the state of Alaska, Federal Highway Administration, city of Cordova and Cordova Electric Cooperative.

Credit- http://www.thecordovatimes.com/2017/10/16/oil-spill-response-facility-built-shepard-point/

Cordova Times Opinion Piece

Bringing environmental safety to our region of Prince William Sound

by the Native Village of Eyak

After nearly 20 years of study, discussion, public comment, and plan revision, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit to construct the Shepard Point Oil Spill Response Facility, to help protect our land, wildlife, sealife and waters.

This decision was generated by the Exxon Valdez consent decree, which stipulated that deep water ports would be established for the three primary villages impacted by the spill – these are Chenega, Tatitlek, and the Cordova area.

To date, the other two facilities have been constructed. The Native Village of Eyak stepped forward, with support from our regional corporation and others, and began facilitating the process, so we could assure our members and neighbors that in the event of another spill, we would all be protected.

For those not familiar with the multi-year process that has led to the Corps decision, several alternative sites were studied, and significant work was performed to determine the viability of those sites, the environmental impacts and how they could be mitigated, and ultimately, what would work best to quickly deploy necessary resources in the event of a spill.

First, the port needed to be a deepwater port that did not require dredging, which is an impact on the environment, in and of itself. Shepard Point is the only alternative the Federal Government studied that fit that bill.

During the environmental studies, the Native Village of Eyak has worked to protect the environment and ensure all impacts could be mitigated. The road and response facility have been designed and redesigned to minimize impacts to fish streams, eelgrass and sub and intertidal areas.

Protection of Prince William Sound, while minimizing environmental impacts has always been our focus.

Let’s look at the positives of the Corps’ decision to place the response facility at Shepard Point:

  • A recent study shows that responding from Shepard Point can save 19 more miles of coastline than other locations in the inlet
  • Shepard Point allows instant response to oil spills – there is no need to wait for the tide
  • The road from Shepard Point, provides access to the all weather airport in Cordova in the event additional workers or supplies are needed
  • Large spill response vessels can dock at the port during drills and to bring in and take out needed equipment
  • Most important to the Native Village of Eyak, we are empowered to exercise self-determination

This process has included other partners, who have been involved throughout – they are Chugach Alaska Regional Corporation, the Eyak Corporation, the State of Alaska, Federal Highway Administration, the City of Cordova and Cordova Electric Coop.

With this permit, the Native Village of Eyak can move forward with this important project and protect the region our ancestors, and those who come after us, for decades to come.