Since Cook Inlet Pipeline Co. has reopened the Drift River Oil Terminal Facility, I think it is time to take a moment and reflect on the response efforts undertaken to evade the threat of a potential oil spill into Cook Inlet.

As we all know, the risk presented by Mount Redoubt to the Drift River Oil Terminal is not a novel concept. The volcano caused significant damage and flooding at the terminal nearly 20 years ago. However, that incident generated an intensive amount of planning and engineering into the production of a multi-million dollar system designed to protect the Drift River Oil Terminal tank farm from flooding caused by subsequent eruptions. It is the culmination of these safeguards and proper planning, including the use of the Incident Command System and the Unified Command, which undoubtedly played a major role in the success of this latest response.

It is only in recent times that the Incident Command System and the concept of a Unified Command has become a common practice in managing a response to an oil spill or disaster. Many may recall the inaction and confusion that the Exxon Valdez oil spill spawned in 1989. At that time, there was nothing set up to manage an incident of that magnitude and, in the most critical times, nothing was done and misinformation ran rampant. In the instance of the recent situation with Mount Redoubt and the Drift River Oil Terminal, the Incident Command System and the Unified Command were implemented and utilized exactly the way they were intended. Make no mistake - this was a successful response to the lahars threatening a facility and the operations to prevent oil from being released to Cook Inlet. As a result, no personnel were injured and no oil was spilled during the explosive events or during the oil removal and restart operations.

There have been those critical of the actions taken by the Unified Command who have called the averted disaster at the Drift River Oil Terminal "luck." They suggest that it was luck that the terminal's protective dike system diverted a significant amount of water running down Drift River from impacting the Drift River Oil Terminal tank farm; it was luck that the tertiary containment held back the substantial flooding caused by lahars; and it was luck that the explosive eruptions of Mt. Redoubt weren't larger and thus causing a greater amount of flooding. Well, I certainly agree that we were lucky -- lucky that we had the level of dedication exhibited by the men and women working on the Incident Management Team and of those working on the ground at the Drift River Oil Terminal. It was their quick thinking and hard work prior to and throughout the eruption of the volcano that undoubtedly helped keep oil in the tanks and off the ground.

Due to my professional background, I have been involved in many spill responses and incidents. During the Drift River incident, I witnessed one of the most impressive displays of what I would like to label "doing the right thing." As part of the Incident Management Team during the incident, I was very impressed by the decision by Cook Inlet Pipeline Co. to suspend operations at Drift River Oil Terminal because of the concerns for the safety to the employees working on the ground. As it should be, the concerns of worker safety trumped everything, including economics. I sincerely believe that the driving force behind this response was truly worker safety and I applaud their decisions and actions in this incident.