Region urged to get serious on oil spills
On that tragic night in 1989, about the time Capt. Joseph Hazelwood emerged from a bar in Valdez, Alaska, Riki Ott was briefing town officials on her risk analysis of the oil tankers that picked up North Slope crude.
"It's not a matter of if we have a major spill," Ott, a toxicologist-turned-fisherman, told the mayor and others that night. "It's a matter of when."
About four hours later, the Exxon Valdez smashed into Bligh Reef under Hazelwood's command, spewing millions of gallons of crude.
Ott and others who lived through the Valdez debacle have some advice for people of the Puget Sound region: Get serious. Get the Legislature or Congress to form a citizen-run group, funded by shipping interests, to keep an eye on the spill-prevention efforts of industry and government. Get something just like the Regional Citizens' Advisory Council that has helped make Valdez one of the safest ports in the country.
Message received.
Yesterday, a federal-state task force examining the response to last month's oil spill in Puget Sound decided to seek counsel from the head the Alaska group on how to get citizens here more involved in prevention.
Having a citizen-run group, professionally staffed and able to match the scientific acumen of industry and government, would push the oil-spill-prevention system like nothing else could, say supporters of the Alaskan version.
"Being independent and well-funded, we're beholden to no one except the citizens," said John Devens, executive director of the Prince Williams Sound Regional Citizens' Advisory Council. "We have total independence."
Don't wait until a big spill occurs in Puget Sound to organize such a council, Devens says. He should know. Devens was the mayor of Valdez in 1989 -- one of the people Riki Ott warned that night.
Because of Puget Sound's much higher level of marine traffic compared to Valdez, "I think you're more at risk," Devens said.
Ott, author of a recent book on the aftermath of the Valdez spill, said that forming such a citizens' council is an important first step. "I can't say it enough: Get a citizen's advisory council. It's critical," Ott said on a recent visit to Seattle.
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Region urged to get serious on oil spills
