Ten Years After the Exxon Valdez
We Must Pay the Price of Vigilance

by Alaska Governor Tony Knowles
March 23, 1999

Alaskans were preparing for a peaceful Easter weekend 10 years ago this month when the Exxon Valdez ran hard aground, gushing 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of our state's most spectacular and sensitive areas.

For months, the world was gripped with images of pristine shorelines awash in oil; birds and sea otters blackened to death. Today, our environment and our people still bear the scars; thousands of Alaskans remain uncompensated for damage to their livelihoods.

Yet, as we assess the suffering and lessons learned a decade later, one truth rises above all others: We are committed to paying the price of vigilance, because the price of complacency is too high.

Shortly after the spill, many Americans divided over future oil development. Some said the risk of another Exxon Valdez was not worth additional exploration and production. Others considered the possibility of a spill impossible to reduce, so living with the risks of development was inevitable.

I believe most Alaskans favor a third choice - that by doing development right, we can have good jobs and a growing economy while protecting our environment. Development and environmental protection don't conflict. In fact, they depend on each other.

That's why a decade after America's worst oil spill, Alaskans - government, industry, citizens - are working in partnership to ensure the world's safest oil transportation system, from wellhead to tanker. This system is built on the best technology, a new commitment to doing development right and the belief that to protect America's shorelines, prevention must be our first line of defense.

Consider the night-and-day differences between 1989 and today:
Better tanker escorts. Today, oil-laden tankers operating in Prince William Sound are escorted by the world's most sophisticated "tractor" tugs, powerful enough to control an 1,100-foot tanker in raging seas, yet agile enough to swivel on point applying 10,000 horsepower in any direction.

These vessels now escort each tanker 77 miles through the Sound. Ten years ago, only a single tug accompanied tankers 10 miles through the Valdez Narrows.

At the Sound's Hinchinbrook Entrance to the stormy Gulf, one of the world's most powerful ocean rescue vessels, the 11,200-horsepower Gulf Service, is stationed for high seas emergencies.

These new tugs and other escort vessels are part of a $60 million annual safety commitment by the oil industry.

Tough new laws. The State of Alaska has adopted the world's toughest oil spill prevention and response laws, requiring the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company to maintain the largest arsenal of spill response equipment anywhere. This huge stock pile - 70 skimming systems, 35 miles of oil containment boom and contracts with 350 local vessels - are part of a plan to contain, control and clean 300,000 barrels of oil in three days.

Under new federal law, all tankers transporting oil from Valdez's terminal must be double-hulled by the year 2015. Already, nearly 60 percent of the current fleet has either double hulls or double bottoms. Had the Exxon Valdez been double-hulled, the spill would have been reduced by more than half.

Improved tanker monitoring. A decade ago, Coast Guard radar worked only intermittently out to Bligh Reef where the Exxon Valdez ran aground. Today, the Coast Guard monitors every tanker using a Global Positioning System so advanced an anchor dragging just a few feet below the surface can be detected by monitors 35 miles away.

New sophisticated wind and sea monitoring instruments alert the Coast Guard when sailing conditions warrant stopping tanker traffic.
Pipeline and terminal improvements. Along Alaska's 22-year-old, 800-mile pipeline, more than $600 million has been invested as operators constantly upgrade corrosion prevention, replace valves and improve leak detection in oil storage tanks. At the Valdez terminal, industry was required to install a $95 million vapor recovery system which has reduced harmful pollutants by 90 percent.

Recovery and scientific advances. Today, restoring the spill area to full health is far from over. Only two of 28 injured species have recovered, overall ecological recovery is uncertain and oil can still be found on some beaches.

But using the $900 million civil settlement with Exxon, we've dramatically advanced our knowledge of the marine environment. Scientists now better understand the survival needs of salmon and herring, and fish and wildlife managers have better tools to make smarter, more timely decisions.

Through the efforts of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, more than 300 salmon streams, vital old-growth forests necessary for nesting marine birds and about 650,000 acres have been protected for restoration. These lands now are available to all Americans to enjoy.

The Exxon Valdez disaster showed the need for a dramatically different way to safely transport oil to America. This, along with the risk inherent in shipping oil, makes it imperative we are always vigilant in improving on the world's safest oil transportation system.