Automated PDF File

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Automated PDF File ® ... PROTECTING THE COOK INLET WATERSHED & THE LIFE IT SUSTAINS Homer — P.O.nletKEEPE Box 3269, Homer, AK 99603 — (907) 235-4068 Anchorage — 308 G St., Ste. 219, Anch. AK 99501 — (907) 929-9371 [email protected] www.inletkeeper.org Summer 2007 Massive Coal Mine Lands Chuitna River on “Most Endangered Rivers” List I Salmon, Mercury & Climate Change …and BIG COAL! R n April 17, local groups, Native Alaskans and fishermen joined Cook Inletkeeper and otherO groups at a press conference in Anchorage to announce the Chuitna River’s selection as one CONTENTS Massive Coal Coal Mine Lands Chuitna of the nation’s top ten “Most Endangered Rivers” River on “Most Endangered Rivers” List 1 for 2007. The national river protection organiza- Inletkeeper Leads Efforts to Protect Salmon in Changing Climate 1 tion, American Rivers, annually produces the list of ANote From Your Cook Inletkeeper 2 most threatened waterbodies, and it selected the Inletkeeper to Challenge Weak Chuitna based on the imminent threats posed to it Oil & Gas Dumping Permit 3 by the proposed Chuitna coal strip mine. The Oil Tankers Finally Get Needed Tug Support in Cook Inlet 4 Chuitna coal strip mine would, if fully developed, Lower Cook Inlet Oil & Gas Project destroy over 30 square miles of prime moose and Inletkeeper Bob Shavelson addresses Anchorage Press Heeds Local Concerns 4 Conference on Chuitna Coal Mine bear habitat from a pristine watershed 45 miles A l Alaska Coal Group Takes Shape to a s Press for Sensible Energy Options 5 west of Anchorage, near the communities of k a Inletkeeper Report Helps Prompt Tyonek and Beluga on the west side of Cook Inlet. C e Better State Oil Pipeline Rules 6 n t The mine would also dump millions of gallons of e r Inletkeeper Instrumental in Federal f Pipeline Safety Law Renewal 6 mine waste into the Chuitna River and Cook Inlet o r t The Waterkeeper Alliance 6 each day, and would rely on a two mile long dock h e Fed’s Propose “Endangered” stretching into sensitive beluga whale habitat to E n Listing for Beluga Whale 7 v i service huge coal ships. Aside from the direct, r o Inletkeeper Continues Work on n Marine Debris & Clean Boating 7 long term impacts of a massive coal strip mine in m e n Impervious Cover Report Helps Cook Inlet, the project would send coal to Asia, t Gauge Climate Change Impacts 8 where antiquated power plants would produce Clean Water Week In DC - Taking Our Message to the Hill 8 mercury that flows back to Alaska fisheries. house gases of any traditional fuel source. In a Citizens Environmental Finally, Alaska possesses roughly half the nation’s state already considered “ground zero” for climate Monitoring Program 8 coal reserves, and coal produces the most green- change impacts, it makes little sense to turn back- Inletkeeper Laboratory Provides (Continued on page 2 Unique Platform for Monitoring Community 9 Inletkeeper Volunteer Spotlight 9 Inletkeeper Leads Efforts to Protect Salmon in Changing Climate World Water Day 9 Critical Salmon Science Will Drive Better Decisionmaking Inletkeeper’s Website Gets a Facelift 10 Earth Day 2007 - Helping our Next he Cook Inlet watershed is the most populat- there is little or no consistent, long-term tempera- Generation Discover Water 10 ed and fastest-growing region in Alaska; it is ture data for salmon streams in Alaska. Without Computer Recycling Keeps Toxics T Out of Our Landfills 10 also home to the state’s renowned wild salmon such basic information, it is impossible to gauge Cook Inletkeeper’s Truck & runs that are at greatest risk to the effects of cli- the health of Cook Inlet’s salmon habitats and Upcoming Cash Raffle 10 mate and land-use change. For the past five years, resources, and equally difficult to develop man- Thank You Members & Funders 11 Cook Inletkeeper has spearheaded a novel agement responses to improve watershed resilien- research program that has documented alarming cy to climate change. warming trends in local salmon streams, with sum- Cook Inletkeeper is now moving forward to mer temperatures routinely exceeding state water tackle this momentous problem. First we are quality standards established to protect spawning developing standardized, transferable protocols and migrating fish. Fisheries scientists warn that for continuous temperature data-logging to foster high stream temperatures make fish increasingly local, community-level participation in stream vulnerable to pollution, predation and disease. Yet temperature monitoring. Partners actively despite the association between warming water temperatures and reduced salmonid survivorship - (Continued on page 3 INLETKEEPER A Note From Your Cook Inletkeeper Dear Friends of Cook Inlet — he Chuitna River is a spectacular salmon stream on the west side of Cook Inlet near is published biannually by T INLETKEEPER the communities of Beluga and Tyonek. The Cook Inletkeeper, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi- Chuit, as locals call it, produces incredible king zation dedicated to protecting the Cook Inlet salmon, and supports important sport, com- watershed and the life it sustains. Subscriptions mercial and subsistence fishing opportunities. are mailed free to members and are available to In April, Inletkeeper and its supporters suc- others upon request. To become a member, cessfully listed the Chuitna as one of the or for more information, contact: nation’s ten “Most Endangered Rivers” for 2007. Why? Because a Delaware corporation Cook InletKeeper HOMER OFFICE backed by Texas investors is moving to develop Our politicians and agencies are charged P.O. Box 3269, Homer, Alaska 99603 a massive coal strip mine that will destroy the with managing our public lands and waters in 3734 Ben Walters Lane surrounding watershed and dump billions of ph: (907) 235-4068 the best interests of current and future genera- fx: (907) 235-4069 gallons of mine waste into the river each year. tions. But well-heeled corporations have “cap- Corporate developers and government tured” our decisionmakers, and they count on agencies tell us not to worry, because Alaska’s Cook InletKeeper the fact that everyday citizens are too busy with ANCHORAGE OFFICE permitting system will ensure there’s no harm. their own lives to know about or to act upon 308 G Street, Suite 219 But nothing could be further from the truth. It these outrageous rollbacks. That’s where you Anchorage, AK 99501 is a persistent myth that environmental reviews ph: (907) 929-9371 come in. Not only do we have a fundamental fx: (907) 929-1562 and permits actually safeguard the environment right to clean water and healthy salmon, but we and the people who rely on it. Coal strip min- also have an obligation to protect them for our www.inletkeeper.org ing is an inherently intensive land use. Once kids. So don’t get discouraged, get active. It’s [email protected] you destroy 30 square miles of fish, bear and our only choice. With climate change unravel- moose habitat to extract the underlying coal, ing the very biological systems that support our you can never put the egg back in the shell. INLETKEEPER STAFF planet, an active and engaged citizenry is our Bob Shavelson Laws and rules adopted in the past to provide only chance. So please take 20 minutes from Executive Director & Inletkeeper some semblance of environmental protection every week to write a letter or to call an agency Sue Mauger have been systemically dismantled. For exam- official or politician, because they cannot Stream Ecologist ple, in just four short years, the Murkowski ignore our collective voice. Edan Badajos Administration: gutted the Alaska Coastal Lab Analyst Zone Management Act, cutting citizens and Will Schlein local governments from any meaningful role in Yours for Cook Inlet, GIS & Web Specialist coastal development; neutered the biologists in Michael Allen the Alaska Department of Fish and Game by Development Director moving them to the state’s resource develop- Nancy Tappan-Eigenheer ment agency (DNR); and rammed through new Finance Officer rules that allow polluting “mixing zones” in Ingrid Harrald salmon spawning areas, despite thousands of Volunteer Coordinator comments to the contrary statewide. At the Bob Shavelson federal level, the Bush Administration changed COOK INLETKEEPER Executive Director BOARD OF DIRECTORS the definition of “fill” under the Clean Water Rob Ernst, President (Nikiski) Act so mining corporations can reduce costs by Benjamin Jackinsky, Vice President (Kasilof) using our lakes and streams as private dumping Mike O’Meara, Treasure (Homer) grounds. Nancy Wainwright, Secretary (Anchorage) Tom Evans (Nanwalek) Susan Mumma (Seldovia) Coal Mine Cont. (from page 1) Robin McLean (Sutton) Mako Haggerty (Homer) Roberta Rinehart (Anchorage) wards toward coal, especially when such invest- mounting, as Alaskans increasingly recognize John Lemons (Homer) ments would preclude interest in Cook Inlet’s the dead end road represented by a future of world class wind, tidal and geothermal energy coal. See other stories in this issue for other supplies. Opposition to the Chuitna mine is coal work unfolding across the state. PAGE 2 COOK INLETKEEPER INLETKEEPER Protecting Salmon (cont. from page 1) involved in temperature logging will bring together existing proto- tions to develop this Cook Inlet-wide network of sites. With future cols for comparison and review. We will establish a standardized funding, we will implement this monitoring design and have groups method and produce a detailed description of procedures, equip- throughout Cook Inlet help us generate the type of long-term tem- ment needed, how to deploy data loggers in the field, how to pro- perature data for salmon streams that we need to guide smarter man- gram and download data, and how to perform maintenance and agement of our fisheries resources. quality assurance measures. Having this information written for a Most importantly we will work with our Cook Inlet partners to general audience will make it easier for other Cook Inlet partners increase awareness and build local grassroots support to help and community-level groups throughout Alaska to implement tem- address the increasing threats from climate change and development perature monitoring.
Recommended publications
  • Written Testimony of Shanna Devine Worker Health and Safety Advocate
    Written Testimony of Shanna Devine Worker Health and Safety Advocate, Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee On “Mismanaging Chemical Risks: EPA’s Failure to Protect Workers” March 13, 2019 Dear Chairman Tonko, Ranking Member Shimkus, and Members of the Subcommittee, Thank you for holding this crucial hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to protect workers from chemicals risks. I serve as the worker health and safety advocate for Public Citizen, a national consumer advocacy and public interest organization with more than 500,000 members and supporters. Since 1971, Public Citizen has advocated for stronger health, safety and consumer protection measures, as well as curbs on corporate wrongdoing. I previously worked as an investigator for the Government Accountability Project, a whistleblower protection and advocacy organization, where I led a multiyear dispersant whistleblower investigation. The investigation, which I understand is ongoing, examined worker health impacts from chemical exposure during the Deepwater Horizon disaster.i I worked firsthand with whistleblowers, and this testimony incorporates lessons learned by those brave individuals, who should be the pioneer witnesses providing a foundation for dispersant oversight. EPA’s failure to adequately regulate dispersants – toxic chemicals used in an unprecedented manner in response to the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster – is a tragic example of the agency’s failure to protect workers under its implementation of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, which made significant amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). While this is by no means the only chemical that EPA has failed to protect workers from, several unique factors make it particularly timely for congressional oversight.
    [Show full text]
  • Diary of a Disaster: 6 Months in the Gulf What It’S Like to Respond to an Environmental and Democratic Crisis—And Where We Go from Here
    Diary of a Disaster: 6 Months in the Gulf What it’s like to respond to an environmental and democratic crisis—and where we go from here. by Riki Ott America awoke the morning of April 21 to learn that BP’s well, the Deepwater Horizon, had blown out in the Gulf of Mexico and was on fire. Eleven men were dead. BP began dumping dispersants (toxic chemicals that sink oil) into the Gulf and lies into the media. I had left Alaska on February 10 for another round of national talks on the democracy crisis and how we can take back our government... from the corporations. My phone went berserk with media requests. Lisa Marie, my assistant and friend, asked when I was going down to the Gulf. “I’m not,” I said. She knew better. For both of us, it was déjà vu. During the Exxon Valdez oil spill 21 years earlier in Alaska, Lisa Marie had worked with traumatized children and families. She worked for several years as a board member and volunteer for the Cordova Family Resource Center. With my doctorate in marine pollution, I became a spokesperson for the commercial fishing industry, testifying in the state legislature and Congress for stronger spill prevention measures and working to ban dispersants, and then starting the Copper River Watershed Project to help the community recover from long-term socioeconomic impacts. Lisa Marie knew I needed time to process my own memories that surged afresh with BP’s blowout, the inept government-industry response, and the lies. It took me a week to come out of my foxhole.
    [Show full text]
  • Hearing Order OH-001-2014 Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (Trans Mountain) Application for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (Project)
    Hearing Order OH-001-2014 Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (Trans Mountain) Application for the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (Project) Written evidence of Dr. Rikki Ott Name of North Shore No Pipeline Expansion (“NSNOPE”) intervenor: Table of contents 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2 1.1 Scope of work .................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 Statement of qualifications ............................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2.1 Education ............................................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2.2 Experience .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2.3 Qualification of Opinions ..................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2. Impacts to Worker Health & Wildlife from Oil Spills Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.1 State of Knowledge Before the BP DWH Disaster .......... Error! Bookmark not defined. 2.2 State of Knowledge from the BP DWH Disaster ............. Error! Bookmark not defined. 3. Impacts to Public Health from Oil Spills ................... Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.1 Reports from the BP DWH Disaster ................ Error! Bookmark not defined. 3.2 Reports from Dilbit Disasters in the U.S. ......... Error! Bookmark not defined. 4. Opinion on Health Risk from Oil Spills in Urbanized Areas .. Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.1 The Risk of a Spill ........................................ 28Error! Bookmark not defined. 4.2 The Consequences of a Spill ........................... Error! Bookmark not defined. Appendix A Curriculum vitae of Riki Ott, PhD ........ Error! Bookmark not defined. Page 1 1 1.0 Introduction 2 1.1 Scope of Work 3 1. This is the written evidence of Dr. Riki Ott filed on behalf of the intervener North 4 Shore No Pipeline Expansion (NSNOPE) to address human health impacts and 5 risks of oil spills. 6 7 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Of 18 Jennifer Stock, Riki Ott ______
    March 1, 2010, oc030110.mp3 Post Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Page 1 of 18 Jennifer Stock, Riki Ott _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jennifer Stock: You’re listening to Ocean Currents, a podcast brought to you by NOAA’s Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. This radio program was originally broadcast on KWMR in Point Reyes Station, California. Thanks for listening! (Music) Jennifer Stock: And welcome to this month's edition of Ocean Currents, a show where we talk about the blue part of our planet, the ocean. We talk about natural history, conservation, research, exploration, and ways for us land-based folks to learn more and get involved. My name is Jennifer Stock and I bring this show to you from NOAA's Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary, one of three amazing and unique marine sanctuaries off the central California coast here off of Point Reyes. So, let's get to it. A few months back, my guest today appeared in Point Reyes Station as a guest at a showing of a film that really touched me deeply. Riki Ott is a marine biologist and author and activist and she talked about her experience living in Alaska and surviving the long legacy of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989. She not only survived it, but led her impacted town out of it's most trying times. Riki is featured in the film called Black Wave that brings attention to what really happens during these dark days. Riki was a commercial salmon fisher-ma’am and while living in the devastation of the oil spill on many levels, she chose to do something about it and that she did.
    [Show full text]
  • Sound Truths and Exxon Myths-- the 15 Year Dark Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Beyond Information Sheet
    Sound Truths and Exxon Myths-- The 15 Year Dark Anniversary of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Beyond Information Sheet Prepared by Alaska Forum for Environmental Responsibility and Alaska Community Action on Toxics How Much Oil did the Exxon Valdez Spill? I was not the only one who heard 11 million gallons was the low-end estimate of spill volume and 38 million gallons was the high-end estimate during my first 24 hours in Valdez after the spill. A year later, two separate newspaper accounts reported volumes up to 27 and 38 million gallons (Hennelly 1990; Spence 1990). One article (Hennelly 1990) reported that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) contracted Caleb Brett to do tank soundings to estimate the volume spilled, but Caleb Brett refused to make public documentation of its findings, citing its employer-client relationship with Exxon. I found that the Alaska Department of Law later obtained the Caleb Brett documents during a separate investigation of the spill volume in preparation for a civil lawsuit against Exxon over damages to wildlife and habitat. When this lawsuit was settled in 1991, the State of Alaska shelved its investigation. In 1994, in response to public requests, the state released its investigation files to the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS) in Anchorage, Alaska (AK Department of Law 1991, attached). According to Caleb Brett’s report (1989), the Exxon Valdez left the tanker terminal in Port Valdez on 23 March 1989 with 53.04 million gallons of oil on board. The tanker grounded on Bligh Reef around midnight.
    [Show full text]
  • Toxicity Or Performance In, Natural Environments Where Products May Be Used
    About Dispersants Persistent Myths and Hard Facts Updated 3/8/21 by Dr. Riki Ott, ALERT, a project of Earth Island Institute About Dispersants1 Dispersants are mixtures of solvents, surfactants, and additives that are designed to break apart slicks of floating oil and facilitate formation of small droplets of oil in the water column to enhance dispersion and microbial degradation, according to the oil industry and the EPA. Dispersants are used in oil spill response to make the oil disappear from the water surface—but the oil and the dispersants don’t magically go “away” after use. The U.S. National Contingency Plan (NCP or Plan) governs our nation’s oil and chemical pollution emergency responses. The first NCP, in 1970, advocated mechanical methods to remove and dispose of spilled oil, but it allowed for use of chemical dispersants if they were listed on the NCP Product Schedule. For over a decade, dispersant use was restricted; it wasn’t until the mid-1980s that the Plan began to shift to include more chemical treatment measures and requirements. 1994 updates to the Plan included provisions for expedited and preauthorized use of dispersants, as government and industry acted to anticipate and avoid public opposition to dispersant use during future spills––a public relations “lesson learned” from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil disaster. During the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster response, unprecedented amounts of dispersants were used at the surface and subsurface wellhead, over an unprecedented duration of nearly three months, leading to unprecedented amounts of oil deposition on the ocean floor.
    [Show full text]
  • Changes to the ARRT's Oil Dispersant Guidelines for Alaska
    Changes to the ARRT’s Oil Dispersant Guidelines for Alaska 4-5 Briefing for PWSRCAC Board of Directors –January 2015 ACTION ITEM Sponsor: Linda Swiss Project number and name or topic: 600 Oil Spill Response Planning Program 1. Description of agenda item: This informational item is intended to brief the Board on the current status of changes to the “Oil Dispersant Guidelines for Alaska.” Replacement of the guidelines was proposed by the Alaska Regional Response Team (ARRT) in the fall of 2013 with a new document entitled “Dispersants Authorization Plan.” The ARRT, a combination of federal and state agencies that share responsibilities for managing and setting public policy for oil and chemical spill responses in Alaska, is in the process of updating dispersant use policy in Alaska. To accomplish that effort, changes have been proposed to the Alaska Federal/State Preparedness Plan for Response to Oil and Hazardous Substances Discharges/Releases (“Unified Plan”). This plan is jointly written by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and members of the ARRT. The draft Dispersant Authorization Plan can be viewed on the ARRT’s website at: http://alaskarrt.org/Documents.aspx?f=9. After release of the t plan in late 2013, the ARRT conducted outreach activities throughout several communities in Alaska. PWSRCAC submitted the attached comments dated February 4, 2014. Comments were also submitted by several other stakeholders including: • City of Cordova • Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization • Coalition to Ban Toxic Dispersants • Alaska Big Village Network • Alaska Inter-Tribal Council • Alaska Community Action on Toxics • Cook Inletkeeper • Kachemak Bay Conservation Society • Pegasus Environmental Solutions • Center for Biological Diversity • Native Village of Eyak • Riki Ott • The Ocean Foundation • Donna Schantz • Amanda Bauer 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Not One Drop Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 1St Edition
    NOT ONE DROP BETRAYAL AND COURAGE IN THE WAKE OF THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL 1ST EDITION Author: Riki Ott Number of Pages: --- Published Date: --- Publisher: --- Publication Country: --- Language: --- ISBN: 9781933392585 DOWNLOAD: NOT ONE DROP BETRAYAL AND COURAGE IN THE WAKE OF THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL 1ST EDITION According to almost every single person on the case, that is except Enbridge, this oil spill is and I quote "huge for an inland spill". Are you kidding me? Why are we even allowing Enbridge to maintain a working pipe system? They have had not 1 not 2 but something in the range of one-hundred or more incidents. Sound Truth and Corporate Myth. We are marking four decades of the Environmental Era and forecasting the future. Apr 24, Chelsea Green Pub. Apr 22, Sisters Press, Cordova, AK. OCS Study. BOEM Department of the Interior. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. Then let's consider the twenty-eighth amendment to the Constitution of the United States: the separation of corporation and state. The movement has already begun. US Edition U. Coronavirus News U. HuffPost Personal Video Horoscopes. Terms Privacy Policy. Part of HuffPost Environment. All rights reserved. Tap here to turn on desktop notifications to get the news sent straight to you. It is wrong when it tends otherwise. Riki Ott is the right person--at the right place--at the right time. Her expertise as an author and as a marine toxicologist alerts us to the true cost of our addiction to oil--not just monetary cost, but ecological cost. Democracy and the planet are at stake.
    [Show full text]
  • Trade Deal Treason
    Environmental News from BC and the World Shuswap Flooding • Geiger Counting at Red Rose Mine • Pesticide Guide Special Issue on TOXICS September - October 2012 Newstand Price $4.95 Trade Deal Treason Chemical Kids Pink Ribboned to Death Canada’s POP Strategy Fizzles Bill C-38 Impacts Oil Spill Update wilderness wildlife & matters Purchase a Wilderness Committee calendar and be part of our campaigns to protect threatened wilderness and wildlife. Check out our beautiful greeting cards, books and posters online. call 604-683-8220 today! Bulk orders available! Only $15.95 WILDERNESS COMMITTEE Visit WildernessCommittee.org Mention this ad when you call us and receive a discount! Sustainably importing organic products from Farmer to Family! Rooibos, Green Rooibos, Honeybush & Chai Gourmet Sea Salt and Spices www.gatheringplacetrading.com 250 935 6993 WaterShed Sentinel September-OctOber 2012 Watershed Sept-Oct 2012 Sentinel Vol. 22, No. 4 Health & Toxics 12 Since Silent Spring In 1962 Rachel Carson sounded the warning about the impacts of pesticides and other manmade chemicals on human and environmental health. Fifty years later, we look at some of the most recent research on toxic chemicals and health and ask: Are our governments doing enough to protect us? Edited by Miranda Holmes 13 Protecting Children Dr. Bruce Lamphear on the neglected legacy of Rachel Carson 16 Persistent Organic Pollutants Fe de Leon and Olga Speranskaya examine how Canada’s Strategy on POPs has fizzled 19 Asbestos, Still Killing Canadians Mae Burrows on Canada’s national shame The Land 20 Pesticide Residues in Our Food 10 Shuswap Flooding Analysis 22 Bill C-38, The Death of the Environment Jim Cooperman says it isn’t only rain that by Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Student Guide
    BLACK THE LEGACY OF THE EXXON VALDEZ WAVE A DOCUMENTARY FILM OF THE TWENTY-YEAR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE FOLLOWING THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL IN PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND Student Study Guide by Riki Ott, PhD for Ultimate Civics, a project of Earth Island Institute MAPS rth Sl Prudhoe Bay No ope Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Fairbanks North Pole Glennallen Sheep Mountain Anchorage Chitina Cordova Kenai PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND Seward Juneau Goodnews Bay COOK INLET Kenai Peninsula Homer/Seldovia GULF OF ALASKA Bristol Bay Kodiak False Pass Alaska Peninsula Shelikof Strait Chignik Perryville From: Sound Truth and Corporate Myths (Dragonfly Sisters Press, 2004) by Riki Ott, PhD and Corporate Myths (Dragonfly Sisters Press, Sound Truth From: 2 Black Wave Review Questions 1. Who was the Master Captain of the Exxon Valdez? 2. Where did the Exxon Valdez run aground? 3. What are PAHs? What harm do they cause to wildlife? To people? 4. What is the “Valdez crud”? 5. What recourse did sick workers have after the cleanup? 6. Which President signed legislation authorizing the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System? 7. Why did the Exxon Valdez crew members ask permission to deviate course? 8. Why were the fishermen the first to respond to the spill? 9. How much of the oil spilled stayed in Prince William Sound? 10. What was the first indicator of long-term ecosystem harm from the oil spill? 11. What was the first indicator of long-term economic harm from the oil spill? 12. What was the first indicator of long-term community health impacts from the oil spill? 13.
    [Show full text]
  • Twenty-One Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Will Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Finally Address the Systemic Flaws Revealed in Alaska? Zygmunt J.B
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School Boston College Law School Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School Boston College Law School Faculty Papers 11-1-2010 Learning From Disasters: Twenty-One Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Will Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Finally Address the Systemic Flaws Revealed in Alaska? Zygmunt J.B. Plater Boston College Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/lsfp Part of the Energy Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, Law and Society Commons, and the Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law Commons Recommended Citation Zygmunt J.B. Plater. "Learning From Disasters: Twenty-One Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Will Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Finally Address the Systemic Flaws Revealed in Alaska?." Environmental Law Reporter 40, (2010): 11041-11047. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Boston College Law School Faculty Papers by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright © 2010 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. reprinted with permission from ELR®, http://www.eli.org, 1-800-433-5120. Learning From Disasters: Twenty- One Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, Will Reactions to the Deepwater Horizon Blowout Finally Address the Systemic Flaws Revealed in Alaska? by Zygmunt J.B. Plater Zygmunt J.B. Plater is Professor of Law, Boston College Law School.
    [Show full text]
  • In Riveting Prose, Ott Unpacks the Consequences of the Exxon Valdez
    sound truths 3rd pass.qxd 8/30/04 9:54 AM Page i In riveting prose, Ott unpacks the consequences of the Exxon Valdez. Her six years of relentless investigation shines a clear light on the lies, the pseudo-science, the sickness, and the death that have spread as thickly as the oil itself in the wake of this monumental tragedy. Her practical and visionary recommenda- tions challenge us all with the really big question: are we ready to close the curtain on the Age of Oil? Ott’s rigorous research suggest that a positive future may depend on our willingness to say “yes.” —Fran Korten Executive Director, Positive Futures Network Through compelling first-hand accounts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Riki Ott reminds us that the dire environmental conse- quences of this disaster live on—in the form of increased rates of asthma, allergies, and cancer. Hers is an eloquent warning that we must not look at Exxon Valdez as an isolated incident, but as a signal of our over-dependence on oil and a premoni- tion of what can and will happen again. ‘Sound Truth’ moving- ly cautions us that we can no longer ignore the public health threat of fossil fuels. —Robert K. Musil,PhD, MPH Executive Director and CEO, Physicians’ for Social Responsibility Throughout the turbulent waters of this complex story, Riki Ott keeps a steady hand on the tiller and a steady eye on her navi- gation. Where many authors would be dismasted and ship- wrecked by their own fury, she stays clear-eyed and commu- nicative, keeping this story proceeding firmly on course.
    [Show full text]