The Observer, January, 2009

Anniversary is a time to reflect on lessons of spill

As I write this, the twentieth anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill is very much on our minds here at the citizens’ council. Like many Alaskans, I’ll never forget the morning of March 24, 1989, when I woke up to find that North America’s largest oil spill had just occurred practically on my doorstep, and that it had come from a ship named after the town of which I was mayor: Valdez, Alaska.

As detailed elsewhere in this issue of the Observer, the council will be involved in a number of events dedicated to the anniversary, as well as several publications. We’ve already released “Then and Now: The Alaska Oil Spill at 20,” a DVD on changes to the transportation system in Prince William Sound since 1989. Between now and the anniversary date, we’ll also release a written report on the same subject, and an oral history book, “The Spill: Personal Stories of the Exxon Valdez Disaster.”

The root cause of this signal event in Alaska history was, in our view, complacency—the assumption that, because no disaster had occurred in the 12 years since the startup of North Slope oil production, the system in 1989 was as safe as it needed to be and there was nothing to worry about.

As the Exxon spill demonstrated, that assumption was profoundly mistaken. While some citizen activists had long called for safety improvements in Prince William Sound, their voices were largely ignored by the public. On March 24, 1989, the few prevention measures in place were inadequate to head off the spill, and the cleanup resources immediately available were inadequate to deal with it.

Since then, regulatory agencies, the oil industry, and citizens have worked together to use the painful memories and hard lessons of the Exxon spill to reduce the chances of another such catastrophe and to prepare for a better cleanup if one should occur. The tanker fleet is switching to double hulls, which do much to reduce or eliminate spills that result from groundings or collisions. Loaded tankers are escorted from Valdez to the Gulf of Alaska by powerful tugs designed to keep a disabled tanker off the rocks or begin cleanup if there is a spill. Detailed contingency plans for preventing and cleaning up spills are now mandatory.

Despite these strides in oil-spill prevention and response, we know that individual and institutional memories fade with time, that people, companies, and agencies can let down their guard. One of our biggest concerns at the citizens’ council is that these tendencies will bring back the complacency that allowed the Exxon Valdez disaster to happen and that the system built up since then will start to erode.

That risk may be increasing as the twentieth anniversary approaches. Oil prices are in one of their periodic slumps and the industry is warning of possible cutbacks in its operations. The ongoing decline of North Slope oil production could well intensify these pressures. In keeping with our mission, we at the council will be very much on watch to resist any move to reduce the safety margins.

In particular, we will be vigilant on the future of the escort system. The federal requirement that every loaded tanker must be escorted through the Sound by two tugs applies only to single-hulled tankers, though, for now, double-hulled tankers are escorted as well.

When, in a few years, the transition to double-hulled tankers is complete, there will be no federal escort requirement at all, but the council is determined to see that the escorts continue.

In our view, one of the most important lessons of 1989 is that safety is a fixed cost of transporting oil. It should not become subject to the fluctuations of the oil market and we will continue to do all in our power to prevent that from happening.

• John Devens is executive director of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council.

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