In Alaska, gulf spill brings back painful memories

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100503/ap_on_bi_ge/us_gulf_oil_spill_alaska


In Alaska, gulf spill brings back painful memories


CORDOVA, Alaska – Communities along the Gulf Coast wondering about what kind of legacy the monstrous oil slick will leave can look no further than the towns along the Alaska coastline that were ravaged by the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989.

Crude oil from the tanker still lingers on some beaches a full 21 years later. Some marine species never recovered. Families and bank accounts were shattered. Alcoholism, suicide and domestic violence rates all rose in hard-hit towns.


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About 1,300 miles of Alaska shoreline was affected by the spill, including 200 miles that were heavily contaminated, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. Responders found carcasses of more than 35,000 birds and 1,000 sea otters. That was considered to be a fraction of the bird and animal death toll because carcasses usually sink to the seabed. The council estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales died along with billions of salmon and herring eggs.

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Alaskans also see uncomfortable parallels as BP takes heat for allegedly downplaying the initial threat of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico after a drilling rig exploded. A similar scenario unfolded in 1989 after the Valdez disaster.
"There were promises made that it was manageable, containable, that it could be cleaned up," said Jones, whose group is dedicated to preventing future oil spills. "It turned out the oil industry was just not capable of doing that. That seems to be what's happening in the gulf."
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Those who lived through the Valdez catastrophe said they felt enormous sorrow for the Gulf Coast because they know how painful it will all be, especially once the prolonged legal battles begin over compensation. The Valdez dispute was agonizingly slow and marked by several frustrating appeals.
Like many in the Alaska fishing business who feel burned after the U.S. Supreme Court slashed the jury award, Lynden O'Toole cautioned those on the Gulf Coast to not pin any hopes on a settlement.

The salmon losses, i wonder if they are connected to the recent findings of depleted populations in washington & oregon?

20 years later and the damage is still palpable, even for me who lives so far from AK
...I weep for the Gulf and all the animals...billions of animals will suffer and the human cost will be horrible as well...

:cry: I hate oil!

I hate what oil can do to the ecological system but I cannot say that I hate oil..what I hate is that people in most industry's oil etc that are the top brass and are the main beneficiaries in the profit margin care little for ensuring their products remain eco friendly as well as ensuring the human population does not become a victim of ignoring safe guards in order to ensure a steady income of a high profit margin...its not the oil you should hate, it is the greedy and power hungry human head honcho's who ignore the dangers and work to ensure those dangers are as limited as can be to our population and world as a whole if such actions tap into thier huge bank accounts too much and too often...