March 23, 1999. Copyright 1999. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

ALASKAÕS BIG SPILL

LONDON, March 23, Graphic News: A DECADE after 11 million gallons (41.8 million litres) of crude oil poured into AlaskaÕs Prince William Sound, the environmental effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill are even more hotly contested than they were in 1989.

Environmentalists and Exxon Corporation Ð which settled out-of-court with the government, paying more than a billion dollars in civil and criminal damage Ð still argue over the impact the Exxon Valdez had when it slammed into a reef 40 miles (65 km) from the Alaskan fishing community of Cordova. 

Exxon says the Sound has not suffered any lasting damage, but local fishermen say they know better. Despite its pristine appearance, they say, the Sound remains crippled by the worst oil spill in U.S. history

At four minutes past midnight, on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez, loaded with North Slope crude, ran aground on Bligh Reef. Its captain, Joseph Hazelwood, admitted drinking vodka before boarding the vessel, but was acquitted of criminal charges of operating a ship while intoxicated; instead he was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service for negligently discharging oil into Prince William Sound.

One-fifth of the Exxon ValdezÕ cargo poured from the belly of the tanker into the icy waters, soiling 1,300 miles (2,080 km) of coastline. 

After three days of calm weather and smooth seas, strong northeasterly winds arose and dispersed the oil beyond any hope of containment. 

Much of the oil was whipped with sea water into an emulsion known as mousse, which does not burn and which is very difficult to remove from the surface of the sea or from shore. The spilled oil, now in the form of thin sheens and thick mousse, continued to spread to the southwest. The oil Ð polluting three national parks and eight other protected sites Ð came ashore as far south as the Kodiak Archipelago and Alaska Peninsula.

Scientists estimated that 35% of the spilled oil evaporated, 40% was deposited on beaches within Prince William Sound, and 25% entered the Gulf of Alaska where it either became beached or was lost at sea. 

The effect on wildlife was deadly. The spill killed an estimated 250,000 waterfowl and other birds, as many as 5,000 sea otters, 300 harbour seals, 150 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales and an unknown number of salmon and herring. 

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council was established in 1991 by Alaska and the federal government Ð with $900 million of ExxonÕs settlement Ð to oversee restoration.

The councilÕs monitors say that bald eagles have totally recovered from the spill and the common murres appears to be recovering despite suffering a 40% loss in numbers. Mussels, pink salmon and sockeye salmon, the regionÕs top commercial species, are rebounding but itÕs bad news for many others.

Cormorants, harbour seals, Pacific herring, harlequin ducks, marbled murrelets and killer whales do not seem to be recovering and black oyster catchers, the loon and river otters are classified as Òrecovery unknownÓ.

But Exxon claims the Òenvironment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thrivingÓ.

ÒIt is ExxonÕs position Ð and that of many independent scientists Ð that there are no species [in the Sound] in trouble due to the impact of the 1989 oil spill.Ó

Ten years later acrimony still spills across Prince William Sound. In the port of Valdez, where the massive four-foot wide Alaska pipeline ends its run from the Arctic Circle, teams of heavily equipped oil-spill experts stand by to guard against history repeating itself.

The ageing Alyeska pipeline pumps 1.2 million barrels a day to Valdez where it is loaded into tankers. 

Although under federal law all tankers in U.S. waters must be double-hulled by 2015, only three of the 28 tankers operating out of Valdez today have a second skin. If, according to a U.S. Coast Guard study, the Exxon Valdez had been twin-hulled as much as 60% less oil would have spilled into the Sound on that frigid Good Friday night.

Alaskans also remain bitter over ExxonÕs appeals, motions and Òscorched-earthÓ tactics to evade paying its five billion dollar damages judgement. In the five years since the verdict, Exxon has filed more than 60 petitions and appeals, sought 23 time extensions and filed more than 1,000 motions, briefs, requests and demands. It has asked for a reduction in the award, a reversal and a new trial. It has claimed jury misconduct and jury tampering.

Documents filed by the two sides amount to about 15 million pages Ð more than in any other federal lawsuit. Lawyers estimate that Exxon has spent about $300 million in legal fees on appeals and AlaskaÕs plaintiffs now expect at least five more years of legal battle before money changes hands Ð if any ever does.

/ENDS

Sources: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, Reuters, Associated Press