Face to Face
Willie Hensley
Manager of Federal Government Relations
Published August 2003

As a young Inupiat from Kotzebue, Willie Hensley was at the forefront of the drive for a settlement of Alaska Natives’ land claims. Since then, he has been a state legislator, a corporate executive, and Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce and Economic Development. For the past five years, Hensley has been Alyeska’s face in Washington, D.C.

What does your job entail?

As if anyone can manage federal relations (laughs)! This office was set up in the early 1990s when Alyeska was going through some troubled times. I represent Alyeska’s interests among the regulatory agencies. I’m the point of contact for congressional committees, our delegation and the industry associations, as well as the public.

What’s the biggest challenge?

The biggest challenge is conveying correct information, particularly when incidents occur. Alyeska has always been controversial politically because its very existence was permitted by an act of Congress. The pipeline has been called an 800-mile long lightening rod. Even though Alyeska has performed its duties very well, there are stakeholders still looking over our shoulders who occasionally mistake the facts a bit. Whenever there’s an incident – with the bullet hole, for example – we have to help ensure the correct picture gets painted.

What kind of gains have you seen over the years?

Alyeska has done an excellent job of maintaining the pipeline and running an open work environment where people feel that they can criticize something and get an appropriate response. The fact that the pipeline did so well following the 2002 earthquake underscored the soundness of the pipeline’s original design. The perception out there now is that the pipeline system is operated responsibly. During Congressional hearings in 2000 to mark the 10 years since the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, feedback was very positive. We had the chance to show the positive changes that have occurred, especially in Prince William Sound. Generally, our profile in Washington, DC is lower and that’s the way it should be.

In a place like Washington, you have to be able to respond to questions and to find answers. The trans-Alaska pipeline is unique and we’re generally ahead of the curve – for example, on corrosion, security, environmental prevention and response. Because of all the regulatory oversight, we’re on the leading edge. We try to work with others in the industry – in a way, it makes life harder for them because Alyeska has been required to do so much due to the nature of our origins. It took an act of Congress to get the pipeline going. This is a highly regulated system and that fact is sometimes not fully understood by our critics.