On March 23, 1989, Captain Joseph Hazelwood poured himself another drink at the Pipeline Club, as the sun sank over the port of Valdez, Alaska.
Across the harbour, a silvery lattice of pipes and nozzles pumped 1.26 million barrels of North Slope crude, into the cavernous hold of the Exxon Valdez.
Dropped off at his ship because he could not drive due to drunk- driving convictions, he took command of the $125 million tanker, the size of three football fields. Once the tanker was clear of the Valdez channel, Hazelwood left piloting of Prince Edward Sound to third mate Gregory Cousins who was not qualified. Within minutes, the tanker veered toward the shallows of Bligh Reef just 18 miles away.
The U.S. Coast Guard had not monitored the Valdez. To save money two years previously, it had reduced the power of its radar, one of the world’s finest. At four minutes past midnight, the tanker struck a underwater mountain, tearing eight holes in its superstructure.
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Sixteen hours and 267,000 barrels of crude later, before help arrived, the oil invaded the emerald green waters of the sound.
It damaged the livers and kidneys of thousands of sea otters, plus tens of thousands of ducks perished. Food was contaminated for eagles, bears and salmon. It was an environmental disaster.
The oil companies, coast guard and government now say we have the technology. Well, it is now clear, neither oil companies nor government can deal with a large oil spill on the open ocean, even in calm seas.
Without skill, luck and know how, even double hulling and technology, mistakes can be made.
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Spills: Nestucca fouled the beaches of Vancouver Island, 231,000 gallons. Beach- cleaning equipment didn’t work. Government agencies bickered while wildlife perished.
Back in 1981, the B.C. government mapped the impact of an 11-million-litre spill. What would the cost be? Super tankers that ply the East Coast, range in size from 987 feet to 1,100 feet, and hold up to 380 million litres of oil. They take up to five kilometres or 30 minutes to stop. If there is a spill off Cherry Point (Washington), it would take wind and currents just five hours to move a massive spill 19 nautical miles toward B.C.’s coastline.
In recent times there have been harrowing moments with tugs and barges breaking loose off the Coast, including the Queen of the North lying on he bottom leaking oil off Hartley Bay. For the orcas it’s tough, as the southern pod is now down to 74.
With our federal government now owner of Trans-Mountain with a mandate to push it through, it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Seems wildlife and the ecology take the back seat to big business and mega-development. However we still have intelligent minds very concerned about the world we live in. I, like others, feel sorry for the future of those things we hold dear to our hearts.
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