The ship carried more than 25 million gallons of crude, more than the Exxon Valdez when it ran aground on Bligh Reef.
"All of us, all Alaskans, have to fight to make sure that the complacency that allowed the Exxon Valdez to happen, doesn't come back and allow something like it again," Jones said.
There's been political pressure to reduce the number of tug escorts for tankers from two to one.
The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act, now stalled in the U.S. Senate, would ensure that all tankers leaving the sound would have a dual-tug escort.
"We're going to be aggressive about it. This is an important piece of legislation for Alaska," said Sen. Mark Begich.
With single hulls phased out, some feel that the two-tug system is overkill and that going to a one-tug escort would save money.
Environmental groups point to the tug Pathfinder which ran aground before Christmas.
They say if a tug is disabled for whatever reason, one tug may not be enough.
Last May Sens. Begich and Lisa Murkowski co-sponsored a bill that puts the two-tug requirement in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act.
So far, the bill has passed the House.
Another issue, the age of the Kodiak and another tanker, the Sierra, which are both about 30 years old and were retrofitted with double hulls.
Exxon says they meet and exceed federal standards, but environmental watchdogs say they don't have the redundant systems that some of the newer tankers have, like the ones BP and ConocoPhillips have in their fleets.
"If you're an oil industry supporter in Alaska, just imagine what the political repercussions would be had the Kodiak gone on the outside shore of Montague Island and spilled twice the amount of oil that the Exxon (Valdez) spilled 20 years ago. Imagine that. It would have put an end to any new oil and gas development in Alaska, so we can't afford that, period," said biologist Rick Steiner.
Steiner says the Kodiak and the Sierra should be retired. He points to recent Coast Guard inspections of the Kodiak, where deficiencies were found.
Last year, in two separate inspections, problems were found with the engineering and electrical systems.
And in March of 2008, Coast Guard inspectors noted defects in the Kodiak's life saver system, a two-inch crack in a vertical weld and in the fire safety system.
Exxon says it followed all the proper procedures and that the Kodiak has redundant engines that worked, and the tugs were utilized only as a precaution.
The Coast Guard says once the tanker offloads crude in San Francisco, it will continue on to Seattle to fix the engine that broke down.
No oil was spilled and no one was injured.
Contact Rhonda McBride at rmcbride@ktuu.com
