Published on Tuesday, March 24, 2009 by MSNBC
Oil Plagues Sound 20 Years After Exxon Valdez
Future risk assessments must look at longer impacts, recovery council says
Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, oil persists in the region and, in some places, “is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill,” according to the council overseeing restoration efforts.
![[Rescue workers hold a cormorant that was caught in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Gary Braasch / Corbis)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/exxonvaldez_cormorant.jpg "exxonvaldez_cormorant.jpg")
Rescue workers hold a cormorant that was caught in the Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Gary Braasch / Corbis)“This Exxon Valdez oil is decreasing at a rate of 0-4 percent per year,” the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council stated in a report marking Tuesday’s 20th anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. waters. “At this rate, the remaining oil will take decades and possibly centuries to disappear entirely.”
The council’s findings come two decades after the March 24, 1989 disaster, when the single-hulled Exxon tanker hit a reef, emptying its contents into Alaskan waters. The spill contaminated more than 1,200 miles of shoreline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.
Captain convicted of misdemeanor
The council, made up of three state and three federal appointees, was created to administer the $900 million that Exxon paid to settle lawsuits filed after the accident, which also resulted in criminal charges against the ship’s captain, Joseph Hazelwood.
Hazelwood, was accused but then acquitted on a charge of being drunk at the time. He was, however, convicted of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor, and sentenced to a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service.
In the weeks and months following the spill, thousands of people tried to clean up the contamination. But two decades later, oil persists and is estimated to total around 20,000 gallons, according to the council. One of the lessons learned is that a spill’s impacts can last a long time in a habitat with calm, cold waters like Prince William Sound, the council said.
“Following the oil and its impacts over the past 20 years has changed our understanding of the long-term damage from an oil spill,” the council stated. “We know that risk assessment for future spills must consider what the total damages will be over a longer period of time, rather than only the acute damages in the days and weeks following a spill.”
“One of the most stunning revelations” from studies over the last decade, the council said, “is that Exxon Valdez oil persists in the environment and, in places, is nearly as toxic as it was the first few weeks after the spill.”
As a result, some sea otter populations as well as bird species have been slow to recover. Overall, some 200,000 seabirds and 4,000 otters were thought to have died from the contamination.
Oil found 450 miles away
Moreover, surveys “have documented lingering oil also on the Kenai Peninsula and the Katmai coast, over 450 miles away,” according to the council.
None of that was expected “at the time of the spill or even ten years later,” it added. “In 1999, beaches in the sound appeared clean on the surface. Some subsurface oil had been reported in a few places, but it was expected to decrease over time and most importantly, to have lost its toxicity due to weathering. A few species were not recovering at the expected rate in some areas, but continuing exposure to oil was not suspected as the primary cause.”
It turns out that oil often got trapped in semi-enclosed bays for weeks, going up and down with the tide and some of it being pulled down into the sediment below the seabed.
“The cleanup efforts and natural processes, particularly in the winter, cleaned the oil out of the top 2-3 inches, where oxygen and water can flow,” the council said, “but did little to affect the large patches of oil farther below the surface.”
Sea otter concerns
That area is also biologically rich with mussels, clams and other marine life that help sustain sea otters and ducks.
“Sea otters usually have very small home ranges of a few square kilometers,” the council said. “In these small ranges, it is unlikely that the otters are avoiding areas of lingering oil when foraging.
As a result, “while overall population numbers in western Prince William Sound have recovered, local populations in heavily oiled areas have not recovered as quickly.”
There is a plus side to the foraging by otters, since digging in oiled areas does release the contaminants to the water, where they are diluted and dispersed.
Bird concerns
The American Bird Conservancy issued its own warning, stating that while many bird species have recovered several significant ones have not.
The spill killed 5-10 percent of the world’s population of Kittlitz’s Murrelets, the group said, a species whose numbers declined 99 percent from 1972 to 2004.
“Prior to the spill, the rate of decline was 18 percent per year, but since 1989 that rate has increased to 31 percent,” the group stated. “The growing impact of global warming in the Arctic and the melting of glaciers, caused by the burning of oil and other fossil fuels, may also be a factor in this decline.”
Two other species cited are: the Pigeon Guillemot, whose populations have steadily declined throughout the sound since the spill; and the Marbled Murrelet, which has not met the recovery objective of a stable population.
The group cited a faster transition to double-hulled oil tankers as the best protection for wildlife. Single-hulled tankers are still allowed in U.S. waters until 2015.
“A similar requirement for double-hulled tankers needs to be made globally to protect birds and other wildlife from future spills,” said Michael Fry, the group’s conservation director. “Additional marine reserves and no-go zones for tankers during sensitive breeding and staging seasons should also be implemented to protect the most vulnerable species.”
Silence in the Sound: An interview with Merle Savage
Twenty years ago, the Exxon Valdez disaster changed Alaska forever. In addition to witnessing environmental tragedy, oil spill workers encountered an abundance of corruption, waste, and mismanagement. Here Merle Savage, who served as a general foreman on three of the clean-up rigs, talks about her experiences and the book she authored to sort through what happened.
Question: Tell us how you came to write Silence in the Sound. Had you always thought of writing a book, or did your experience working on the clean-up compel you into print?
Answer: I had taken college courses and written several short stories about my life, and my instructor encouraged me to write. My friends and family also encouraged me to put the story to print. With my position as a general foreman there were many stories to relate, and I began writing Silence in the Sound. After returning home to Anchorage after the cleanup, there was an adjustment as to what had been such a physical and mental ordeal, so life pretty much existed with doctor visits and trying to get my health back. I couldn’t understand why my health was slowly deteriorating, and I began to think that it must be the Alaska weather. After 7 years of recurring health problems, I decided to relocate to Las Vegas, to be close to family. To help keep my mind off my condition, remembering the notes in my journal slowly became stories about the oil spill cleanup.
Question: We hear a lot about waste and corruptions in government endeavors, but none of it rivals what you observed in the corporate “clean-up” process. How much did that surprise you, and how did it shape your way of viewing politics and the world?
Answer: My position in Prince William Sound put me in direct operations with the corruption, and at times I was shocked at the demands that were made by people who thought they could control me. The only way I could survive through everything, was to remain true to myself, and my personal convictions of right and wrong. There were many people who wanted me to be relieved of my position, but that never happened. When decisions were made by me, it was the best choice at the time, with no regrets.
For me, making decisions, and remaining true to Veco and Exxon, was not that tough. I had my position, my world that I could control, and it was such a small part of the big picture. I had worked at Fort Huachuca, AZ for many years and knew about the corruption in government and corporations from a distance.
Question: What are your thoughts about Veco, your former employer, now that they’ve been linked to so many political corruption scandals in Alaska?
Answer: Exxon and Veco were only channels I went through to get to Prince William Sound. There were some Exxon Representatives and Veco Superintendents who wanted to exercise their power over others for personal reasons. Many times it took some maneuvering to stay one step ahead of situations. My friend Ray Metcalfe was the one who constantly revealed corruption within Alaska politics, which caused the FBI to investigate Veco. He was the one who brought down Senator Stevens. I told him to watch his back, and he in return indicated that I should do the same, because of the stand I’ve made with Exxon. I never believed Exxon would ever be a constant part of my life, until I realized my health had been compromised by the toxic beach spraying.
Question: What sorts of renewed interest have you noticed in your story as the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill approached?
Answer: In October 2007, Dr. Riki Ott contacted me and sent copies of her book, which explained the toxic spraying authorized by Exxon during the cleanup. In her book it told about the many workers who had died and others who are still suffering with the same illness that I have. They had been trying to reach me since the cleanup, but at that time I was married and using the name Bailey, so Merle Bailey couldn’t be located. My web site has been dedicated to trying to reach other cleanup workers who have been suffering from the effects of the toxic spraying authorized by Exxon. At this time Melissa Dutcher, Environmental Coordinator at Masry & Vititoe, the Law Office of legal investigator, Erin Brockovich, has been investigating the many injury/illness claims of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) workers.
A Canadian film company has produced a filmed, “Black Wave”, which tells the stories in Dr. Riki Ott’s book, about toxic chemicals spraying and health conditions of the EVOS workers. Also the BBC filmed interviews of workers for their documentary for the anniversary of the spill. I flew to Anchorage in December to be interviewed with Dr. Riki Ott and others. This March it will be 20 years and the public needs to know how Exxon destroyed so many lives.
Question: Tell us about the process of self-publishing. What advice would you give to other folks who are contemplating alternate routes to print?
Answer: I sent out letters to many publishers and three replied. Two wanted money upfront, and the other was Publisher America. Publish America will publish first time authors with no cost, but does very little to nothing in the way of promotions.
That was something I learned only after I had them publish my story. They printed without editing, which left some mistakes in the book. I do have the sequel almost completed, but will go to another publisher or self print.
Question: You’ve got another book ready to go to press. Tell us a bit about what compelled you to write it.
Answer: I have Miracles for the Asking, which are events that occurred in my life to my family and me that is ready for print. I hope the simple way that I learned to approach the concept of asking and receiving would be an insight for others.
After many years of hanging on the fence of skepticism and not really being convinced about faith, I took a giant step in asking to see the face of God. The results that followed were amazing. The collection of stories is condensed and precise, so the miracles are seen for what they are – a Divine Revelation from God woven in normal everyday occurrences.
POSTED BY DEB VANASSE AT 7:00 AM MARCH 24, 2009
LABELS: MERLE SAVAGE, SILENCE IN THE SOUND