Whales, salmon, seabirds recovered from Valdez spill

Reuters Environmental News Service ^ | 04/22/2002 | Yereth Rosen

[cogitator]

Whales, salmon, seabirds recovered from Valdez spill

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Salmon, killer whales and some seabirds are now thriving in Alaska's Prince William Sound and fully recovered from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, government scientists said in a report released.

A draft report presented to a panel of state and federal trustees overseeing a spill settlement fund lists five species as recovered from the 11 million gallon (41 million liter) disaster.

Species newly designated as recovered are killer whales, pink salmon, sockeye salmon, common murres and black oystercatchers. They were added to a list of two other species, river otters and bald eagles, previously deemed recovered from the spill.

Also considered recovered are the area's archeological resources, which appear to have been undisturbed over, despite fears of vandalism, and subtidal communities, which are considered mostly free of lingering oil.

The report reflects improving conditions in Prince William Sound and outlying areas, said Molly McCammon, executive director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, the panel that administers the $900 million that Exxon paid over 10 years to settle state and federal claims over natural resource damages.

She said nature deserves most of the credit for healing the area.

"That's the biggest lesson of all of this. When it comes to really hands-on restoration activities, there was very little that could be done," McCammon said.

Natural recovery was aided by the trustee council's purchases of more than 630,000 acres (255 hectares) of coastal land, which preserved it from logging, she said.

"If all of that logging had occurred, I think that could have had a dramatic effect on the recovery of all these species," she said.

The latest report also documents improvement in the vitality of some of Prince William Sound's other populations, such as otters and harlequin ducks.

In all six species, along with designated wilderness areas, intertidal communities and sediments are considered recovering, the report said. But harbor seals and three species of seabirds - common loons, cormorants and pigeon guillemots - show no improvement yet, according to the report.

McCammon said the trustee council in recent years altered its definition of recovery. That judgment now depends on whether populations are stable or increasing, instead of whether they are at pre-spill levels, and whether there is a significant difference between populations in oiled and non-oiled areas, she said.

The council's findings could have financial implications. The 1991 settlement called for Exxon to pay $100 million more if, after a decade, unanticipated ecological injury is discovered. That re-opener clause could go into effect as early as this year.

The council's status report pleased neither Exxon Mobil nor some environmentalists.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Tom Cirigliano said the trustee council uses a definition of "recovery" that is too narrow and misleading. Under the council's definition, he said, the spill could be blamed erroneously for unrelated ecological changes like climate shifts. The decline of species like harbor seals - which started long before the spill - should not be tied to the spill, he said.

But he said he was pleased with some of elements of the latest status report, including the affirmation of Exxon Mobil's long-held contention that salmon are healthy and free from oil's ill effects.

Others said the report was too rosy.

"If it were genuine and real, I would celebrate it with all my heart," said Rick Steiner, a biologist with the University of Alaska's Marine Science Advisory Program. But he suspected a pro-oil, Bush administration slant, he said.

[cogitator]

Good news for Earth Day: too bad a few people want to question it.

[Dog Gone]

Impossible. We were told that the damage was permanent and that the world would end as we know it. Environmental wackos don't lie.

[Fish out of Water]

index bump

[redhead]

"She said nature deserves most of the credit for healing the area. "That's the biggest lesson of all of this. When it comes to really hands-on restoration activities, there was very little that could be done," McCammon said.

Yup. Just what old-timers have been trying to tell the enviroweenies for years. (I wonder what these guys would do if somebody told them about the places where the oil seeps up out of the bed of the ocean?) "If all of that logging had occurred, I think that could have had a dramatic effect on the recovery of all these species," she said.

Give with one hand, take away with the other. I guess she just couldn't stand to admit that nature took care of the mess without throwing in the obligatory gratuitous slam at business. (Many of these logging companies are small Native-owned enterprises.)

[redhead]

""If it were genuine and real, I would celebrate it with all my heart," said Rick Steiner, a biologist with the University of Alaska's Marine Science Advisory Program. But he suspected a pro-oil, Bush administration slant, he said.

The HOOK.

[max61]

We were told that the damage was permanent and that the world would end as we know it. Environmental wackos don't lie.

No you weren't. You were told it would take 20-25 years to recover just like the rest of us were.

---max

[Slicksadick]

The following from Lombergs "Skeptical Enviornmentalist"
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was portrayed as a disaster of unparalleled magnitude: For example, it killed 250,000 birds. This shows how the long-term effects of the spill were far less damaging than environmentalists predicted, and also puts the avian mortality claim in perspective: Some 300,000 birds are killed by mammals, mostly cats, in Great Britain every 48 hours, and 250,000 birds die from striking plate glass in homes and offices in the United States every 24 hours.

[Dog Gone]

Don't tell me what I was told. Read it for yourself.

[CyberAnt]

I'm with you! I thought this was a permanent deal! They don't have any right to fool us like this. ;^)

[AM2000]

Natural recovery was aided by the trustee council's purchases of more than 630,000 acres (255 hectares) of coastal land, which preserved it from logging, she said.

"If all of that logging had occurred, I think that could have had a dramatic effect on the recovery of all these species," she said.

In case that got lost, I wanted to point it out. Fact is, there is something we can do to help nature recover, and in this case we did it. The news that these species are coming back to the Sound is the best news I've heard all day.

[randog]

She said nature deserves most of the credit for healing the area.

"That's the biggest lesson of all of this."

Yeah, no need to look to history for answers. The seas had plenty of spilled oil during WWII and the ecosystems bounced back quite nicely.