Exxon Valdez 20 years later

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Bughawk
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2008/02/28 10:05:21 (permalink)

Exxon Valdez 20 years later

Exxon Valdez oil spill lingers in Alaska

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Rob Stapleton / For The Times
Mike Maxwell and other fishermen in Cordova, Ala., are still feeling the devastating effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Four years after the incident, the plentiful herring population disappeared.In one fishing village, residents say they've never recovered from the 1989 disaster. Now the Supreme Court is hearing arguments on whether the company should pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages.By Tomas Alex Tizon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
February 27, 2008 CORDOVA, ALASKA -- By way of telling his story, and the story of this fishing village, Mike Maxwell -- born, raised and hoping to die here -- wants to talk about what happened to the herring.

They were the little kings of the sea in these parts. They ran so thick in Prince William Sound that some days, it was said, you could walk on the water stepping on their silvery-blue backs.





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 When the Exxon Valdez spilled its oil in March 1989, the world saw images of blackened seabirds and otters and seals, of bloated whale carcasses and once-pristine beaches covered with crude. Hardly anything was said about the herring.

No one at the time understood the fish's central place in the ecosystem, nor did anyone know the herring's demise would lead to years of hardship for the people here.

"It's scary what we didn't know," says Maxwell, 47, a scruffy, balding, big-boned man with a small voice.

The herring disappeared four years after the spill -- long after intense public scrutiny had faded and the story line had devolved into squabbling between lawyers.

Exxon claimed the region recovered quickly. Government scientists, however, said oil remained and was still working its way through the ecosystem in a process that would last decades. At the back of a local tavern, hand-scrawled graffiti expresses a common sentiment here: "Oil spills are forever."

In December, nearly 19 years after the spill, scientists published the most definitive study of its kind linking Exxon oil with the collapse of the herring population. Oil killed adult herring, but more significantly, it damaged eggs and larvae.

Surviving fish developed lesions in their livers. Larvae hatched prematurely and never grew to their full 8 or 9 inches. They showed depressed immune systems, which made them susceptible to disease.

The population, which used to be scooped up by the millions of tons, never recovered and, from indications, may never return.

Countless species, including salmon, depended on the little fish as a food source, said Richard Thorne, a fisheries scientist and coauthor of the study. And Cordova fishermen, like Maxwell, made a living on herring. He fished in the summer and mended nets in the winter.

When the herring vanished in 1993, Maxwell lost the only life he knew how to live. His boat and equipment became worthless. His commercial fishing permit, valued at $300,000 before the spill, amounted to a scrap of paper. Maxwell went into debt and eventually filed for bankruptcy. He withdrew from friends and family. He sank into a deep depression. His life fell apart, and he -- like the herring -- has not recovered.

Except for a small circle of scientists and local taverns of forlorn seamen, few know the fate of the Prince William Sound herring and the fishermen whose story runs parallel. They were collateral damage, a faint ripple long after the fact.

"For the rest of the country, Exxon happened a long time ago," Maxwell says, a plaintive crack in his voice. "For me, for the people I grew up with, the oil is still spilling. We're still waiting for the end."

Cordova, population 2,300, is full of Maxwells -- people living in the long-running wake of a catastrophe. People waiting for resolution.

The legal saga, a bitter back-and-forth spanning 18 years, could finally end this year, as the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments today on whether Exxon -- now Exxon Mobil -- should pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages to 32,600 fishermen, cannery workers and Alaskan natives affected by the spill. A ruling is expected this summer.

The verdict is of monumental importance here. It will be history's judgment. And townspeople could use the money.

Cordova, the sound's biggest fishing village, has been called the prettiest dying town most Americans will never see. Glacier-carved peaks loom over what looks by comparison a toy-sized main street, and beyond, a harbor of crayon-colored boats. Only there aren't many boats left.

After the spill, the fishing fleet shrunk by half, three of the town's five canneries went bankrupt, countless fishermen and cannery workers left, a former mayor -- distraught over the town's bad fortune -- committed suicide, and lifers like Maxwell came to haunting the streets and docks like lost souls.

"That's my boat there," Maxwell says. He's leaning out the driver's window of his jalopy pickup. It is a frigid winter afternoon, overcast and darkening by the minute. Cordova gets as little as five hours of sunlight in the cold months.

Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times

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    woodnickle
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 10:39:46 (permalink)
    Cordova pop. 2300, damages to 32,600 fisherman. where are the 30,300 other fishermen? No doubt they should pay for the businesses lost.

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    Bughawk
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 10:54:13 (permalink)
    My guess it is not just the fisherman in that one town, but others elsewhere and all those who process the fish.  Besides the economic impact, I wonder what the loss of the herring means to the salmon and ulitmately the rest of the ecosystem that depends on them. 
     
    I recently read an interesting article about the role of salmon in the forests of the North West.  It seems they are a major source of nutrients for the trees and other plant life there.  When they come back to spawn, they die and their rotting carcasses, loaded with nutrients, help feed the plants.  The article even went on to talk about the role of bears spreading the fish around.  Bears eat a lot of salmon, but do not consume the whole fish.  They catch them, take them to the shore, eat the parts they like and leave the rest to rot.
     
    In areas where the salmon runs have been diminished, local people have been taking salmon carcasses from processing plants and dumping them in the forests to provide the nutrients that are lost because of the reduced salmon runs. 
     
    I wonder with the loss of the herring as a food source for the salmon, what have the salmon runs been like? 
     
     

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    woodnickle
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 11:36:41 (permalink)
    Ya I read the same story Dave. Without the herring to bring the salmon in or to feed on it could be very tough on the fishery.

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    pafisher
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 11:52:11 (permalink)
    The OIL BARONS should be forced to pay up and at least restore the lives of those that they destroyed,they certainly are making enough profit raping the economy with their oil prices.If that spill contaminated the Herring to the point that they are gone from where they once florished you have to wonder what else it has permently detroyed?
    #5
    MuskyMastr
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 12:02:09 (permalink)
    Nothing in nature leaves without being replaced, eventually I wonder what is replacing them?

    Better too far back, than too far forward.
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    DanesDad
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    RE: Exxon Valdez 20 years later 2008/02/28 21:25:40 (permalink)
    I'm sure that, if the judgement goes against the oil company, the costs will be passed right to the consumer.
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