Oil Plagues Sound 20 Years After Exxon Valdez

[dbackjon]

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.

"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.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/24

[Cap'n Cat]

Fvckin' Reagan, Bush I. No regulation of the Maritime Vessel Pilots Association, so no substance abuse testing.

Let the market take care of of it!




"Thanks for the 'trickle down', you douchebag."

[Gil Dobie]

They mentioned the impact when I was there a few years ago. On a positive note, they did say the populations were recovering, maybe not as fast as we would like, but they are recovering. Valdez is by the entrance to Prince William Sound and College Fjord. Great natural setting, I'd recommend an Alaskan cruise to anyone.

[D1B]

Hazlewood did 40 hours of community service at the soup kitchen right across the parking lot where I worked. Talked to him quite a few times. Incredibly nice man, extremely remorseful and worked his ass off without complaint.