[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 35 (Thursday, March 24, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 24, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       THE EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

 Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, on March 24, 1989, the T/V Exxon 
Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound spilling 
almost 11 million gallons of north slope crude oil. This was the 
largest oilspill in U.S. history and is the most scrutinized disaster 
of its kind.
  Exxon was assessed $900 million under the civil settlement, fined 
$150 million under the criminal settlement--of which $125 million was 
forgiven for Exxon's cooperation during the cleanup, and was required 
to pay $50 million each to the Federal Government and the State of 
Alaska as remedial and compensatory payments.
  The crude oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez spread to more than 
1,200 miles of Alaska coastline, including portions of national 
forests, parks, and wildlife refuges managed by the Federal Government.
  This coastline is richly populated with fish and wildlife, such as 
herring, salmon, sea otters, whales, bald eagles, and seabirds. 
Tragically, the spill killed hundreds of thousands of indigenous marine 
birds and marine mammals in and around the waters of Prince William 
Sound, fish hatcheries were rendered lifeless, and the wildlife 
populations are still recovering today.
  The spill introduced oil into the food chain which jeopardized not 
only the living species, but their future offspring and natural 
reproductive capabilities.
  Despite the continuing recovery process, overall we have made great 
progress in the 5 years following the Exxon Valdez oilspill and have 
accumulated a wealth of invaluable knowledge for the prevention and 
cleanup of oilspills.


                         What have we learned?

                          (1) science studies

  Many have studied both the impact of the spill on habitat and 
wildlife and the rate and extent of environmental recovery, but there 
is still no consensus as to the spill's effects. Optimistic findings 
regarding the damage caused by the spill have been pitted against more 
guarded forecasts produced by government agencies.
  Numerous reports have detailed the damage to harbor seals, sea 
otters, pink salmon, Pacific herring, common murres, and harlequin 
ducks.
  Other species have proved nature's resilience. Thirteen killer whales 
disappeared from Prince William Sound pod between 1988 and 1990; state 
scientists say that group is going again. As many as 300 bald eagles 
died in the spill. Five years later, a draft plan for Prince William 
Sound restoration notes that eagles already may have recovered, along 
with some populations of black oyster catchers and sockeye salmon near 
Kodiak.
  Mother nature has undoubtedly done her job--storms have removed about 
half of the oil embedded on some coastline. Many beaches are clean. 
Population forecasts for bald eagles are good. The tourists are back.


                 (2) regional citizens advisory council

  In 1990, Congress passed comprehensive legislation to reduce the 
likelihood of future oil spills, and establish better spill response 
plans.
  A key element of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act was the creation of the 
Regional Citizens Advisory Council [RCAC]. We made it possible for 
those people with the most to lose from an oil spill to have a voice in 
the events that would impact their homes and livelihoods.
  Eighteen member organizations, including villages, towns, small 
cities and boroughs, Native and conservation groups, tourism and 
recreational interests are represented on the Regional Citizens 
Advisory Council. The RCAC provides important services such as 
environmental monitoring, research, input on contingency planning, and 
provides information to the public as requested. This new level of 
citizen involvement is a lasting, positive legacy of the 1990 
legislation.

                        background of settlement

  Another legacy has been litigation. Many suits are just now going to 
trial in State and Federal court, but the State of Alaska and Exxon 
have settled their dispute.
  On October 8, 1991, the U.S. district court approved an agreement 
that settled the claims of the United States and the State of Alaska 
against Exxon for various criminal violations and for recovery of civil 
damages resulting from the oil spill.
  In the civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay the State of Alaska $900 
million over a period of 10 years to restore resources and human uses 
injured by the spill.
  A trustee council consisting of six Federal and State trustees is 
responsible for spending the money. The State of Alaska trustees 
include: the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental 
Conservation, the Commission of the Department of Fish and Game, and 
the Alaska Attorney General.
  The Federal trustees include the lead representatives in Alaska of: 
the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture, Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 
the U.S. Department of Commerce.
  The $900 million civil settlement requires Exxon to deposit funds 
each year beginning December 1991 and ending September 2001. The State 
has received three payments totaling $340 million as of March 1994. The 
State of Alaska will receive $70 million a year through the year 2001.

                               endowment

  The crucial decision facing the trustees today is how best to use the 
funds. In November, I introduced legislation to create an endowment to 
provide for part of the long-term stewardship costs associated with 
recovery of damaged resources and services of the Exxon Valdez Oil 
Spill [EVOS] area by encouraging the conservation of funds to finance 
long-term studies.
  Specifically, the legislation does the following: It establishes in 
the Treasury of the United States an endowment fund into which the 
trustees may choose to transfer any portion of the civil settlement 
funds; it amends Title XXX of the Energy Policy Act of 1992, allowing 
the Secretary of Energy, with the unanimous consent of the trustees, to 
invest a portion of the corpus and income of the endowment fund in such 
a way to generate sufficient income to carry out the purposes of 
restoration; and it allows, upon the request of the trustees, the 
secretary to transfer income earned to the trustees to spend on 
restoration.
  A summary of public comment on alternatives of the Draft Exxon Valdez 
Oil Spill Restoration Plan shows that approximately two-thirds of 699 
responses favored establishing an endowment or savings account of some 
kind and approximately two-thirds of all people who favored an 
endowment through the earnings should be used for monitoring and 
research.
  The purpose of creating an endowment is to encourage the conservation 
of settlement funds for needed longterm research and ecosystem studies, 
catastrophic failures of the multi-million dollar Prince William Sound 
herring and pink salmon fisheries this year raise serious questions 
about the effectiveness of restoration and enhancement activities 
resulting from the Exxon settlement funds, government scientists have 
been unable to explain the disastrous disappearance of herring and pink 
salmon from the Sound in 1993; they lack an understanding of the 
Sound's natural cycles, of water temperatures and food chains. 
Moreover, the Yukon drainage fishery has steadily declined from a 
healthy subsistence and commercial opportunity to total closure today. 
No one knows why--what caused the run failure in the Yukon drainage? 
Funds are needed for studies since, to date, only ineffective and 
inadequate data and research programs exist. Fishing is Alaska's 
leading employer and second leading private sector industry in terms of 
gross benefits to the State, behind only the petroleum industry.
  Creation of an endowment would ensure that we continue to expand our 
base in scientific knowledge--rather than just buy up more trees.
  The Work Plan Allocations for 1992, 1993, 1994 as of March 1994, 
including 42 percent land acquisition, are as follows: $7.5 million--
which was combined with $14.5 million from other sources for the 
purchases of 24,000 acres of private in holdings in Kachemak Bay; 
$38,700,000 for purchase of 42,000 acres of private land near Seal Bay 
on Afognak Island. Trustees are reported to be looking at 17 other land 
purchases on Kodiak, the Kenai Peninsula and Prince William sound 
totaling 240,000 acres.
  With more than 99 percent of Alaska already in Federal, State, or 
Native corporation ownership, using any of the settlement funds to 
increase the amount of government-owned lands is unwise.
  Already about 60 percent of Alaska is managed by Federal agencies. 
Nearly 80 percent of the Federal land is under restrictions that are 
staggering: 54 million acres in national parks, preserves and national 
monuments; 75 million acres in national wildlife refuges; 22 million 
acres in national forests; and 24 million acres are in the National 
Petroleum Reserve, the Steese National Conservation Area, the White 
Mountains National Recreation Area, and in Federal wild and scenic 
rivers.
  Buying lands benefits perhaps a handful of private land owners and 
allows certain government agencies to expend their fiefdoms, but the 
public benefits little. Adding a few hundred thousand more acres to the 
millions and millions of acres in Federal and State parks, preserves, 
forests, wildlife refuges and other protected land areas of the Prince 
William Sound makes little difference to the wildlife and fisheries of 
the region.
  Rather than frittering away more money to convert more private land 
to public land, the Exxon settlement funds should be used to enhance 
scientific knowledge and restoration well into the future.
  We need to know why salmon and herring runs have failed--and how to 
fix or compensate for the damage. We need to learn how Prince William 
Sound resources and systems operate, whether they have characteristics 
that are unique to the Sound, and how our management programs should be 
adjusted to account for the scientific facts we uncover.
  Settlement monies should not be wasted on politically correct land 
purchases that have little or nothing to do with the resources that 
were affected by the oil spill, and on which the economic and social 
fabric of Prince William Sound rely.


                              CONCLUSIONS

  While there has been a great deal of success in achieving the clean-
up and natural recovery in Prince William Sound since March 24, 1989, 
the environment, wildlife and local communities are a reminder that 
Alaska is still working to overcome the long-term effects of the spill.
  Native Alaskans in the villages of Chenega Bay and Tatitlek still 
face oiled mussel beds and fewer numbers of seal and deer to hunt, 
while the residents of Cordova suffer drastic reductions in the number 
of returning pink salmon.
  Concerns remain about how the State should spend its compensatory 
payments designated for the restoration of the natural resources 
damaged by the oil spill.
  Long-term ecological studies are lucrative to Alaska, as well as the 
oil industry and U.S. Government, and should be secured financially for 
future use. The endowment fund is intended to do just that.
  Private citizens have civil lawsuits filed against Exxon for damages 
that are still pending. They are set to begin in May, while many of 
these families and individuals struggle to hold onto what they still 
have. In the past 2 years, banks have repossessed 70 fishing vessels 
for area residents unable to make their payments.
  The past 5 years have taught us a lot about the interdependency of 
humanity and nature. Most important of all should be the lesson that 
history has shown us today how to prepare for tomorrow.

                          ____________________