Exxon Valdez Ten Years Later -- An Interview With Rick Steiner 

24mar99

Rick Steiner, an Alaska Sea Grant Marine Extension Agent from Cordova, Alaska, was one of the first people on the scene in Prince William Sound when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground. He helped marshal the first responses to what would turn out to be a major environmental disaster, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

Below is a mini-interview with Steiner about the spill. Steiner is in Anchorage at the scientific symposium, "Legacy of an Oil Spill: Ten Years After the Exxon Valdez." The gathering runs March 23-26 and is co-sponsored by Alaska Sea Grant and Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. After the symposium he can be contacted at 907-274-9691 ext. 108 or by e-mail at afrgs@uaa.alaska.edu Note Alaska time zone is four hours earlier that EST.

The perspectives offered below are the personal opinions of Rick Steiner. They do not reflect those of Alaska Sea Grant, the University of Alaska or the National Sea Grant College Program and are provided in conjunction with Sea Grant’s role as an information broker, and does not constitute endorsement in any way.

Q: Do you think a spill will occur again in Prince William Sound, and if so are there plans in place to adequately respond to prevent as wide spread damage as in 1989?

Steiner: "There is a very good possibility that another catastrophic spill can occur in Prince William Sound. It could happen with any loaded tanker. Experience has shown that even with the improvements made in the oil transportation system through the sound, mistakes happen.

"We've had several very close calls with loaded tankers in recent years. The fully loaded tanker "Kenai" almost hit Entrance Island, and once almost hit Middle Rock in Valdez Narrows. The Overseas Ohio - unloaded on approach - smacked into a large iceberg and ripped a huge hole in its bow.

"Humans being humans, we need to do better at providing safeguards in the system - namely, we need an entire fleet of double-hull tankers now, not waiting until 2015, as The Oil Protection Act of 1990 allows. Surprisingly, 10 years after the Exxon Valdez, we still don't have one new tanker in the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) trade - most of our boats are single-hulled.

"Regarding spill response preparedness, we have a better system here now, but we need to be honest with ourselves about spill response – it just doesn't work, it has never worked with major spills, and perhaps never will. There has never been a case where a significant percentage of a major spill was contained or removed from the water or beaches - never.

"In many weather scenarios here in Alaska, virtually none would be recoverable. The plans here next time are to disperse the spill as much as possible - transferring the damage from the water surface down into the water column, which may be the appropriate thing to do, or may not.

"Regardless, if millions of gallons of oil spills into a productive marine ecosystem, the amount that can be removed by humans will certainly be irrelevant to the amount of damage caused. We can't contain spills, we can't remove oil from the water effectively, we can't rehabilitate oiled wildlife, and we can't restore injured ecosystems or human communities - which all adds up to prevention as the only effective answer."

Q: What still needs to be done to prevent a similar accident?

Steiner: "We still need new double-hull tankers, with twin engines, twin props and rudders, and bow thrusters - the sort of tankers that ARCO is now building in Louisiana. They only cost $100 million or so,

so our entire fleet could be built for $2 - $3 billion. Many U.S. ports are still at even more risk of major spills than we are here in Alaska. These ports are lacking adequate tug escorts, VTS surveillance, rescue tugs/salvage protocols (witness the New Carissa), well defined traffic lanes, speed restrictions, adequate exclusion zones, and Regional Citizens Advisory Councils such as the one we set up here."

Q: Personally what are you most proud of concerning your role in the spill and its aftermath?

Steiner: "I suppose that we were able to catalyze an out-of-court settlement of natural resource damages between Exxon and the government, and apply much of those monies toward the acquisition and protection of fish and wildlife habitat along the coast of the oil spill region. Out of this effort, about 700,000 acres of some of the most extraordinary, productive coastal habitat in the world has been protected from other damaging activity (clearcutting, etc.), and it has protected hundreds of salmon streams, and hundreds of miles of shoreline."

Q: What is your biggest disappointment?

Steiner: "The biggest disappointment has been that society hasn't learned the important lessons of the Exxon Valdez. We seem to be avoiding our need to use oil more efficiently - i.e., we could produce the same GNP on as little as 1/2 the amount of oil that we are presently using, just with presently available technologies. We waste far more oil everyday than comes down the Trans Alaska Pipeline. Also, I had hoped for a drastic reordering of our societal priorities, focusing more on sustainability rather than short-term profit. That hasn't happened, and that, I'm afraid, is the most profound disappointment out of this entire disaster."

Q: How do you feel about the media "spot light" at the 10-year anniversary?

Steiner: "We are very glad to see the international attention focus once again on this disaster, as it may be the last teachable moment. The attention, however, has opened up old wounds that are very painful. Unfortunately some of the coverage has been of the tenor of 'blame the victim' (i.e. the money that has been and will be paid to the victims) and that further inflames the emotional scars."