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The Valdez Blockade was a 1993 protest by Cordova fishermen who blockaded the Valdez Narrows in an attempt to obtain funding for research and restoration efforts relating to decreasing yields of pink salmon and herring in Prince William Sound. The fishermen were dissatisfied with the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee’s Council’s refusal to fund research efforts. The blockade lasted three days, from August 20 to August 22. The blockade ended when Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt, promised funding for salmon and herring research. Findings from these studies resulted in additional compensation from Exxon.

Initial Settlement Ruling

The initial 1991 settlement would require Exxon to pay $1 Billion in damages. $900 million was allocated to a trust fund concerning special environmental restoration and the other $100 million went directly to the state and federal governments. By 1993, the U.S. General Accounting Office released a report stating that of the $200 million spent at that point in time, most had gone to Federal and State programs, little had been awarded through competitive bids. Additionally, officials held the authority to carry out personally recommended projects and the majority of the settlement that had been paid by Exxon had been allocated towards recovering legal fees, administrative costs, and reimbursements to the state and Federal governments as well as cleanup companies in order to cover the costs of cleanup work. (NYT)

The Blockade

The fishermen’s plan was to build a blockade that would cut-off the primary trade route of Exxon ships and other commercial tankers. The location of the protest, the Prince William Sound, is a small body of water that has channels that engage with other rivers and streams to eventually connect with the Pacific Ocean. The tanker ships the day of the protest approached a 60-boat blockade[1][7] that held the demands that the blockade shall remain unless Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt sought to assist in the clean up and recovery efforts of damage to the Prince William Sound’s Bligh reef and local ecosystem. The affected reef was the Bligh Reef, located in the Prince William Sound. The high population density places the adult herring in a situation where even a small oil spill could affect most of the spawning stock.[9]

The low level of pink salmon cultivation pointed towards the matter of pollution amongst some fishermen who would cite the 11 million gallons[3] of crude oil in the Prince William’s waters. The protesters of the blockade were aware of the high stakes of their actions facing potential fines of up to $25,000 for violating a safe passage mandate for tankers heading towards the trans-Alaskan pipeline terminal. Banners displayed by protesters contained messages with direct contribution to pollution stating, “No More Lies, Exxon”.[8] These messages aimed to strongly reject Exxon’s absence of action in the midst of high levels of pollution.

The damage to the Bligh Reef has seen historical precedence through the Alaska Steamship Company’s Olympia that collided with the reef in 1910.[2]

There were many protestors who publicly shared their beliefs on the issue of pollution in the Prince William Sound. Rick Steiner, a college teacher & fisherman, shared his perspective on the protest stating “this is great news” joining the protest. Steiner was glad that an administration would make a commitment to a legal action of environmental restoration.[5]

Mr. Babbitt in response to local protestors, promised to urge Federal and state trustees in charge of a near billion-dollar[4] settlement from Exxon to support environmental protection efforts in aid of local hatcheries and pink salmon population. Mr. Babbitt at the time was on a two-week tour of Alaska which allowed for his collaboration in the environmental justice action.[10]

Of the tankers, British Petroleum and Arco made the effort to meet with Mr. Babbitt, protesters, and Governor Walter J. Hickel. The Governor was present for multiple land-purchases and preservations that assisted the habitat protection program. Of the tankers, Exxon did not meet with Mr. Babbitt. In response he claimed that given the circumstance it was outrageous that Exxon would not meet.[6]

Following the events of the Exxon oil spill, in 1991 a council dedicated to environmental restoration procession was established to guide future environmental disaster. The trustees have a mission statement that explicates their goal to maintain and improve the fish, game, and aquatic plant resources in the state of Alaska.[11]

From August 20-22 [1993] , sixty(NYT) to one-hundred(Cordova and joc) fishing boats blocked off the Valdez Narrows for two days to protest the cleanup of the area and draw attention to the record low yields of pink salmon, less than one fifth of the forecasted yield (joc),  as well as a week run of herring due to the spillof of approximately 11 gallons of crude oil into prime fishing waters 4 years prior in Prince William Sound. (NYT) The blockade resulted in the prevention of oil tankers from reaching the Trans-Alaska Pipeline terminal.

The Trustee’s Council would announce the creation of the SEA Program, a $20 million program for salmon and herring research in Prince William Sound. Up to $25,000 in fines per protestor (joc) from the US Coast Guard were forgiven following a meeting with Jim Gray, a spokesman for the protestors,  and President Clinton’s staff in Washington D.C. (Cordova)

Effects of the Blockade

Following a two-week tour of Alaska, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt would meet with the protestors on August 23 and promise to help urge Exxon to meet with them about pending lawsuit settlements. Babbitt would also promise to urge Federal and state trustees to allocate a portion of the settlement in order to purchase land to protect salmon-spawning streams and aid local hatcheries around Prince William Sound. (NYT)

Exxon officials refused to meet with the protestors and issued a statement in order to debunk the theory that the low yield was directly caused by the spill. The United States Coast Guard, British Petroleum, and Arco would agree to meet cordially with the protesters along with Walter J Hickel, governor of Alaska at the time. (Cordova)

The blockade is considered to be a contributing factor to federal studies in Prince William Sound. (Alaska JOC) The studies found that lingering oil from the spill had a negative impact on wildlife in the area, impacting the populations of seabirds, sea otters, seals, eagles, killer whales, salmon, and herring. (BBC News) These studies gave cause to demand an additional 92 million USD from Exxon for the purposes of restoring the shorelines that had been impacted by the oil spill. (Alaska JOC)

After the blockade, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council created the Sound Ecosystem Assessment Program. (Cordova Times) The SEA Program was created to determine the factors that impact the proliferation of Pacific herring and pink salmon which the fishermen of Cordova relied upon. The SEA project is the largest ecosystem research project funded by the Trustee Council. (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) The Trustee Council stated that the SEA Program’s creation was directly linked to the blockade. (Cordova Times)

References

1. Alaska Fishermen Blockade Tankers[1][3][4][5][6][10] New York Times, 1993.
2. Olympia’s Passengers Safe[2] New York Times, 1910.
3. Babbitt Helps End Fishermen’s Blockade of Valdez[7][8] Yereth Rosen. JOC. 1993.
4. Herring and the “Exxon Valdez” oil spill: an investigation into historical data conflicts | ICES Journal of Marine Science | Oxford Academic (oup.com)[9] Oxford, 2008.
5. Mission: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council [11] Alaska Fish and Game, 1959.
6. Restoration Update[12] Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, 1994.
7. Cordova fishermen re-enact blockade to protest Exxon[13][15]  Alaska Journal of Commerce, 2006
8. Exxon Valdez: Ten years on [14] BBC News. March 18, 1999
9. GUEST COMMENTARY: Cordova should be proud of the blockade [16][18] Tom Copeland. The Cordova Times, 2016
10. Sound Ecosystem Assessment[17] Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.