A new oral history of the Exxon Valdez oil spill was written to ensure that people, companies, and agencies not let down their guard, and the lessons of that day in 1989 are not forgotten.
Our organization has spent two decades working with industry, government, and local communities to understand the lessons of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and to advocate for safeguards to make sure that nothing like it happens again.
We've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars studying and monitoring the environment of Prince William Sound, the oil tankers that sail through it, the terminal in Valdez where they take on North Slope crude, the escort tugs that accompany the tankers, and the preparations for cleanup should another big spill occur.
Besides focusing on hard science and technology, we've devoted great effort to addressing the human impacts of the oil spill, developing a comprehensive guidebook and DVD to help communities hit by such manmade disasters
Several years ago, we decided to look at the human aspect of the Exxon spill from another angle. We commissioned an oral history based on interviews with people who were directly caught up in the event, the cleanup, or the impacts on communities and people.
The result was published this month in book form to mark the spill's 20th anniversary. It proved an eye-opening experience even for those of us who work daily with oil-spill issues and thought we understood the Exxon disaster.
What did the people in tell us in the interviews? Many things, of course-the book is almost 300 pages-and the spill had different impacts on different people. But, surprising as it may seem, Exxon's cleanup manager for the spill, Otto Harrison, summed it up about as well as anyone when he told us this: "As much as Alaska is a place, it is an idea, and that idea was damaged."
After the spill, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, finding that complacency on the part of industry and government was a contributing factor in the accident. It was believed that the regulation and oversight of crude oil terminals in the United States had degenerated into a process of continual mistrust, and that only if local citizens were involved would the necessary trust develop to change the system. So Congress mandated citizen involvement in the oversight of crude oil terminals and tankers, and our group fills that role for Prince William Sound.
Since 1989, regulatory agencies, the oil industry, and citizens have worked together to reduce the chances of another such catastrophe and to prepare for a better cleanup if one should occur.
There is now more clean-up equipment in Prince William Sound than probably any other U.S. port, and what we believe is the safest oil terminal in the world. There are radar systems with improved coverage and iceberg detection capabilities, double-hull tankers, high-performance escort tugs, a much-improved workforce, state-of-the art equipment for recovering oil, over 900,000 barrels of storage capacity for recovered oil, and a fleet of over 350 trained fishing vessels and crews ready to respond promptly to an oil spill. Citizens have a mechanism to communicate their concerns to the oil industry and regulators via the citizens' councils for Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound.
Despite these strides, we know that individual and institutional memories can fade, that people, companies, and agencies can let down their guard. One of our biggest concerns is that these tendencies, inevitable in human affairs, will bring back the complacency that allowed the Exxon Valdez disaster to happen and that the safety system built up since then will start to erode. Our oral history book is one way to make sure that the lessons of that day in 1989 are not forgotten. The painful personal accounts in it also serve as a stark reminder that society must focus on the long-term environmental and cultural impacts of development, not just on short-term profits for industry.
For two decades now, Alaskans have been spared a repeat of a spill like the Exxon Valdez. It's our goal, as we work closely with the oil industry and its regulators in Prince William Sound, to make sure that's still true on the 40th anniversary of March 24, 1989.
Donna Schantz is Acting Executive Director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council, an independent non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote environmentally safe operation of the Valdez Marine Terminal and the oil tankers that use it. The council's work is guided by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and its contract with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The council's 18 member organizations are communities in the region affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, as well as aquaculture, commercial fishing, environmental, Native, recreation, and tourism groups. The council's oral history, The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster, is available online and from bookstores.