The Exxon Baton Rouge, smaller ship, attempts to off-load crude from the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska, spilling over 270,000 barrels of crude oil, shown March 26, 1989. (AP Photo/Rob Stapleton)

The Exxon Baton Rouge, smaller ship, attempts to off-load crude from the Exxon Valdez that ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez, Alaska, spilling over 270,000 barrels of crude oil, shown March 26, 1989. (AP Photo/Rob Stapleton)

Point of View: Exxon Valdez oil spill brought out local heroes

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound 35 years ago, local people sprang to respond long before Exxon provided any help

When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound 35 years ago, and the spilled oil spread into the Gulf of Alaska, then up into Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay, local people sprang to respond long before Exxon provided any help.

Marge Tillion (the quickest responder) immediately compiled a complete list of needed equipment; Marion Beck rescued oiled seals; Nancy Hillstrand formed a team to clean otters; Gail Parsons formed the Area Recovery Coalition (ARC); Charlotte Adamson ran bird rescue operations; Annette Bellamy was begged to do the thankless job of putting local fishing boats on the Exxon payroll; and a few good men also helped with mitigation.

Meanwhile, the Multi Agency Command group was what you would expect of bureaucrats from three levels of government plus spill company representatives slowly fumbling along. Prominent marine and terrestrial scientist Dave Erikson was perhaps their mildest critic saying, “It was not their finest hour.”

The outstanding member was John Michaelson of Seldovia. In his frustration he flew to Valdez to make a citizen’s arrest of an Exxon rep to bring some action to southern Cook Inlet.

The money from Exxon and its contractor VECO was very, very slow to arrive. Exxon sent in public relations men and lawyers before experienced oil field hands. The PR guy in Homer was Wiley Bragg — properly named, I’ll say.

Mars Cove is another mitigation story where the beach cleanup attempt was done by local organized volunteers.

A good source of information for all is Walt Sonen, founder of the Seldovia Oil Spill (SOS) Team. A great example of the pre-government response by locals was the log boom builders in Cordova, Kodiak, Seldovia and Homer.

The Homer Spit volunteers, led by Robert Archibald and Ed Schofield, put 110 folks to work building many miles of boom. The supply of ocean boom had been long since consumed in Prince William Sound. Designs with other ports were exchanged by fax machine. There were no cellphones in those days, and few computers. The Homer design was helped by a British Navy chief mate who came to show the U.S. Coast Guard how to run oil skimmers.

He had experience with log boom in oil spills from Scandinavia to South America. He pronounced our design the finest kind.

Other boom inventors included the Mitchells of NOMAR and Frank Mullens. Every merchant donated supplies: the Gear Shed, Spenard Builders Supply, Homer Hardware, Klukwan Timber. The TV cameras and other press took note of the Spit activities and the resulting publicity got VECO interested and most participants were eventually paid. It took awhile.

A funny side note was that a new VECO hand wanted to double production and ordered the boom design simplified to the point it was no good. The crew showed up at the Multi Agency Command meeting being covered by cameras. They promised a 50-chain saw chorus unless their good working design was reauthorized.

VECO/EXXON backed down immediately!

John Michaelson and North Pacific Fisheries Association representative Dan Winn got together with Congressman Don Young and Exxon Shipping President Otto Harrison and they twisted his arm until he agreed to provide a replenishable $3 million fund for Southern Cook Inlet spill response and cleanup work.

Mayor Don Gilman asked me to spend it, as he was busy enough with Resurrection Bay spill activities. He got us a new overhead Incident Command team from the U.S. Forest Service for administration; the previous team were smoke-jumpers and they were damned good, but he needed them back in Seward.

The best of the VECO hands was Ray Springer; he hired boats from Seldovia and we met them with Homer boats and aircraft in Port Chatham and asked Tim Robertson to be the commander. Suddenly they could spot oiled beaches from the air and respond.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) had lost track of the slick at Gore Point and assumed it was over, because they flew around in a jet at 3,000 feet. The smoke jumpers got right down on the water and tasted samples and they found oil in the Inlet.

“NOAA doesn’t know” was a refrain when they said “oil won’t sink”, but Rich Corazza took a crew we hired from Underwater Construction, with waterproof movie cameras on 50-foot tethers, who filmed miles of oil debris scooting along the bottom.

One thing everybody learned was that prevention alone made sense. Cleanup is not clean and destruction of fish and wildlife habitat is long lasting. The next year, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA ‘90), which, among other things, mandated the Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Committee. I became the first chair of its Prevention Response and Operations Committee (PROPS). Fighting our own fight, morale was high, though the overall result was low.

Homer resident Larry Smith is co-chair emeritus of the Oil Reform Alliance, which advocates for stronger anti-pollution measures in law and regulation, against tax breaks and for fair share royalties from oil and gas production.

More in Opinion

A state plow truck clears snow from the Kenai Spur Highway on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Use of the brine shows disregard for our community

It is very frustrating that the salt brine is used on the Kenai Peninsula often when it is not needed

Therese Lewandowski. (Photo provided)
Point of View: Inflation, hmmm

Before it’s too late and our history gets taken away from us, everyone should start studying it

A cherished "jolly Santa head" ornament from the Baisden Christmas tree. (Photo provided)
Opinion: Reflections of holidays past

Our family tradition has been to put up our Christmas tree post-Thanksgiving giving a clear separation of the holidays

Screenshot. (https://dps.alaska.gov/ast/vpso/home)
Opinion: Strengthening Alaska’s public safety: Recent growth in the VPSO program

The number of VPSOs working in our remote communities has grown to 79

Soldotna City Council member Linda Farnsworth-Hutchings participates in the Peninsula Clarion and KDLL candidate forum series, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, at the Soldotna Public Library in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: I’m a Soldotna Republican and will vote No on 2

Open primaries and ranked choice voting offer a way to put power back into the hands of voters, where it belongs

Nick Begich III campaign materials sit on tables ahead of a May 16, 2022, GOP debate held in Juneau. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: North to a Brighter Future

The policies championed by the Biden/Harris Administration and their allies in Congress have made it harder for us to live the Alaskan way of life

Shrubs grow outside of the Kenai Courthouse on Monday, July 3, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Vote yes to retain Judge Zeman and all judges on your ballot

Alaska’s state judges should never be chosen or rejected based on partisan political agendas

A vintage Underwood typewriter sits on a table on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2022, at the Homer News in Homer, Alaska. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)
Point of View: District 6 needs to return to representation before Vance

Since Vance’s election she has closely aligned herself with the far-right representatives from Mat-Su and Gov. Mike Dunleavy

The Anchor River flows in the Anchor Point State Recreation Area on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Help ensure Alaskans have rights to use, enjoy and care for rivers

It is discouraging to see the Department of Natural Resources seemingly on track to erode the public’s ability to protect vital water interests.

A sign directing voters to the Alaska Division of Elections polling place is seen in Kenai, Alaska, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Vote no on Ballot Measure 2

A yes vote would return Alaska to party controlled closed primaries and general elections in which the candidate need not win an outright majority to be elected.

Derrick Green (Courtesy photo)
Opinion: Ballot Measure 1 will help businesses and communities thrive

It would not be good for the health and safety of my staff, my customers, or my family if workers are too worried about missing pay to stay home when they are sick.