Chevron's Oil - Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Alaskan Sea.
For the residents of south central Alaska, hearing the words "Exxon Valdez" causes a visceral reaction in the gut. The carelessness, recklessness, and ineptitude of one of our supposed partners in economic development that caused the spill of 10-30 million gallons of crude oil (depending who you believe) was a stab in the heart - the heart being the beautiful and pristine waters of Prince William Sound. The Sound was home to wildlife, a playground for outdoor enthusiasts, a spiritual place of great significance to Native Alaskans, a means of livelihood for fishermen, home to several coastal communities, and a jewel in America's crown that many outside of Alaska came to enjoy, or dreamed of visiting.
The Sound has never recovered from that spill. Recent studies tell us that the resident pod of orcas will not survive. Digging in the beaches near Bligh Reef will reveal thick black crude oil inches below the surface. Many people lost their livelihoods, and more than 20% of the litigants who sued Exxon for their negligence had already died while Exxon dragged out the appeals process for almost 20 years. A conservative Supreme Court ruled again and again in favor of the corporation, while payments due to victims were whittled down to a fraction of the original amount.
The temptation to use the word "evil" to describe Exxon is strong. But this entity which seeks to maximize profit and minimize loss is only behaving like a corporation. Alaskans don't get angry at polar bears for killing people. We don't call them "evil". They are just polar bears after all, and they do what polar bears do. If it moves, it's food. Nothing personal. End of story. But, as thinking people who value our lives, we do learn to guard ourselves against them, and we never trust them, and we don't believe people who tell us we should.
And so should it be with corporations. People don't factor in to their equations. They maximize profits, and minimize losses, and make as much money as possible for their shareholders. They are just corporations after all, and they do what corporations do. The difference between corporations and polar bears, is that we haven't learned to guard ourselves against corporations, and sometimes we still trust them, and the people who tell us we should.
Today, on the shores of Cook Inlet, a body of water which lies on the other side of the Chugach Mountains from Prince William Sound, there is a tank farm owned by Chevron. This tank farm consists of seven tanks, each one capable of holding 270,000 barrels of oil. That's over 11,000,000 gallons total. This tank farm sits next to the Drift River which feeds into the Inlet. And it also sits at the base of Mt. Redoubt, which happens to be an active volcano that is currently at "orange alert" meaning it will likely erupt sometime soon.
The last time Mt. Redoubt erupted, the searing heat caused the glacier on its north face to melt, sending at its peak of flood 60,000 cubic meters of water per second rushing past the tank farm, a volume comparable to the output of the Mississippi River, only boiling hot. What might happen this time? With things like volcanoes, and tank farms on flood plains, one can never be sure.
But we have been burned before by not being prepared. Now, in Prince William Sound, we only allow double hulled tankers, containment booms are at the ready. So, when we see a potential problem in the making, like lots of oil sitting between the volcano and the deep blue sea, we want to know how much oil is actually in these tanks, what precautions Chevron is taking to make sure we don't have an environmental disaster on our hands, what equipment is available, and what Chevron plans to do if the worst happens. We need to know this in part because Cook Inlet is home to important salmon fisheries, halibut, and endangered beluga whales. Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, sits on its shores, and it reaches the coastal communities of Kodiak, Homer, Seldovia and many others.
So what is the status of the tank farm, and what are Chevron's precautions and plans? How much oil is there?
I'm not going to tell you.
It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that Chevron doesn't think I, or you, or any member of the public has the right to know. We can expect such a response from a polar bear corporation. Transparency, accountability and the public disclosure of spill risk can make for some publicity that might undermine the profit goal. And the profit goal is what they do. Nothing personal.
But surely, there's someone out there looking out for the public's interest. What about the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC)? I see a recent press release about contaminated oysters...but nothing about Chevron. Surely the Coast Guard is there to ensure that proper disclosures are made. But, the Coast Guard agrees. You don't have a right to know.
And what is the rationale for their secrecy? Homeland security. Yes, the Coast Guard and Chevron will have you believe that this information will play right into the hands of hardy terrorists who have decided to travel to Alaska in the dead of winter, and traverse more than a hundred miles of virtual wilderness, across a major body of water with no bridge, and use this secret knowledge to commit some diabolical act of terror in a region of Alaska where there are no people.
Bob Shavelson, the executive director of Cook Inlet Keeper said in a recent interview with Bobby Kennedy regarding this situation:
"We knew right after September 11th, we saw the Bush administration come in with these draconian secrecy policies that the oil and gas industry and other corporate chiefs were very happy to embrace because it totally attacked the public's right to know about chemical hazards and threats to our public water supply. This is a perfect example. You've got an oil supply at the base of an active volcano that's about ready to blow. Chevron refuses to tell anyone how much oil is in these tanks, and they also refuse to share their plans, even though we've got remarkable salmon fisheries that lie right at the base of this facility."
So, for argument's sake, let's assume this is true; that this knowledge in the wrong hands is dangerous. It is so dangerous, in fact, that it trumps the public's right to know.
So, naturally then, if you ask how much oil there is in the tank farm in the coastal community of Valdez, where the last big oil spill occurred, you'll get the same answer, right? "Homeland security. Sorry, can't tell you." You'd think that, wouldn't you? But you'd be wrong. You see, the Alyeska tank farm in Valdez not only will tell you how much oil is there if you ask, they release that information every single day. For instance, I can tell you that on February 3, the Alyeska tanks were 68% full because that's public information. A couple hundred miles away, they're obviously not worried that I'm a terrorist. See here [alyeska]
So, what are we to make of this, while keeping in mind the lesson of the polar bear? Bears will be bears and corporations will be corporations. Both are formidable, and neither should be trusted. Ask yourself why Chevron doesn't want you to know how much oil is there at the base of a volcano that's about to erupt. But more disturbingly, ask yourself why the U.S. Coast Guard considers the tank volume information from Chevron at Drift River "sensitive security information" pursuant to the Homeland Security Act, and cloaks this information in secrecy, while a couple hundred miles away in Valdez that same information is being delivered openly on a daily basis. And ask yourself why the State of Alaska is not defending your right to know.
Mt. Redoubt as seen from Anchorage.
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IMO - Alaskans need to ask themselves if Governor Palin is in the pockets of Big Oil and Gas - for the express purpose of furthering her own grandiose political ambitions and/or to satisfy her greed for fancy clothes from Saks Fifth Avenue - both of which require a lot of cash! Obviously, her concern for the "little people" of Alaska who elected her to office means nothing - as evidenced by her making sure she can attend and be photo-opped at the Iron Dog. This will further her delusions that the folks in the lower 48 are agog at her image as a rootin' tootin', Moose/Polar Bear/ Wolf . . . and every other Alaskan wild animal - killin' BABE, yet can't find the time to check on her freezing, hungry Alaskan citizens in Emmonak. Quite a testimonial as to how she would care for the rest of us run-of-the-mill Americans. I think she may well have a Swiss bank account somewhere, or a pad in the Cayman Islands. That's why the lower the prices go the more shrill and stupider she gets about "energy independence" - what's in it for her to be touting another Road to Nowhere? I can't wait for Talis Colberg's version of what went on - for surely, he is just one more victim of Palin's climb to the top of the mountain. Oh yeah - is her behavior representative of Christian love for the poor - if so it's not a reliable selling
I was happy to pass on my energy rebate to the Obama campaign as well. I hope we get our state back in two years and she can move on to ESPN as a sportscaster, her original hope and dream.
Oil companies have a simple plan:
"Do Whatever Is Necessary To Extract Oil From The Ground And Sell It To A Captive Market For As Much Money As Possible."
So, this means lobbying against Mass Transit, Lobbying Against Fuel Efficient Cars, Creating Instability in the middle east. The US government helps them because why? Well the US Military Machine is THE SINGLE LARGEST ENTITY CONSUMER OF OIL, PERIOD. Without Oil an Aircraft carrier is just a really big nuclear powered ship. Without Oil the US Air force can't fly a carton of cigarettes over Iran.
The bottom line is this, we are stuck until the system absolutely collapses in what could spell out the end of civilization or the beginning of a grass-roots freedom loving American revolution.
STOP BUYING CARS - STOP UNNCESSARY DRIVING - USE MASS TRANSIT - USE LESS OF EVERYTHING
Unfortunately Obama didn't mean real change as he is looking more and more like Bush's third term, but I'll withhold judgement until Jan 2010
"For the residents of south central Alaska, hearing the words 'Exxon Valdez' causes a visceral reaction in the gut."
Perhaps. But for many people in your state, hearing the words "Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend" is like taking a tall drink of Pepto-Bismol.
http://en.
I know that the intended effect of the Alaska Permanent Fund was to get oil companies to share the wealth with the residents of the state whose land was being exploited. Unfortunately -- because the oil and gas industries have come to dominate Alaska's economy -- the Alaskan people have essentially been bought.
I'm one of the minority of Alaskans that would gladly give up my check. I'd also gladly pay state income tax, or sales tax. I think that people would be more invested in their state, and really feel like "taxpayers" if this were the case. Sarah Palin's extra $1200 energy rebate this year was nothing more than a "now do you like me?" I had someone come up to me at an anti-Palin demonstration in the fall and ask "Did you cash your $1200 check??" like if I had, I'd be duty bound to like her. I told the woman I donated it to the Obama campaign. Didn't go over well. :-)
Many Alaskans are "bought" or at least rented. But I think that the people affected by the spill would give it all back to get the Sound back. At least I'd like to think so.
AKMuckraker @ The Mudflats
"I had someone come up to me at an anti-Palin demonstration in the fall and ask "Did you cash your $1200 check??" like if I had, I'd be duty bound to like her. I told the woman I donated it to the Obama campaign. Didn't go over well."
Oh, that's nice! Well done!
"Many Alaskans are "bought" or at least rented. But I think that the people affected by the spill would give it all back to get the Sound back. At least I'd like to think so."
I would like to think so, too. But where I live, down in California, I have the only house within my 1000-home subdivision with solar power. We got raked over the coals big time by Enron, Calpine, Dynegy, Duke Energy, etc. in 2000. I know that a lot of my neighbors are richer than I am, but they haven't done anything.
Know what makes me sad and angry; every time I put gas in my car, I contribute to the corporate plan. Of course, Conoco/Philips or Chevron don't care about us... I read a back issue of National Geographic, and it had photos and stories of Chevron in Nigeria ( I think...so
We want and need oil...we hate the secrecy of this giant, inhuman and inhumane corporatio
That's the rub, isn't it? We are all seemingly dependent on the corporations that are so detrimental to us. You cannot live in America without being harmful in some way.
Own an air conditioner? A fridge? A car? A computer? A sweater?
Do you fly? Do you use laundry detergent? Do you eat meat? Do you eat vegetables?
The best we can do is try to mitigate the harm we do and resources we use, which can get absurdly expensive--most people can't afford a diet of sustainably cultivated food, hybrid cars, "green" appliances and clothes, etc. Even then, the most you can hope for is not doing as MUCH damage. Solar panels still have to be manufactured and shipped on a petroleum backbone. Do you have any idea how much water is used to create a single t-shirt?
Being "good" is impossible in America--you can only hope to be less bad.
Go AKM.
I encourage HuffPo readers to link into AKM on a regular basis (something that I have been remiss in doing lately.)
This site and others based in Alaska are keeping track of Sarah Palin, the Taliban Party's favorite for next Commander in Chief, (if they could cheat Duhbya in t hey can cheat Palin in)and of what is going on in Alaska in regards to oil misusage.
Why are we not allowed to know?
Two words: Sarah Palin
This seems to be one of those illusive "ticking timebomb" scenarios that defenders of waterboarding are always dreaming up.
That previous sentence pretty much sums up what I think these corporate criminals deserve.
Sarah doesn't care, about this, or any other events concerning the people in Alaska. Ask the folks in places like Emmonak, and Nunam Iqua --- to whom people all over the world are sending foodstuffs, to keep them from starving.
The good Governess is a "corporations before people person." She can't be bothered.
As far as "the corporations" are concerned, nothing is sacred to these folks --- except the almighty dollar.
This is SOP for Chevron. Chevron has no sense of public responsibility at home or abroad. Look at what it has done to the rainforest of Ecuador -- 18 billion gallons of oil and toxic water pumped into the streams of the jungle. Chevron says the toxic water isn't harmful; that oil doesn't cause cancer; and the reason people are sick in Ecuador is because they don't clean themselves properly. They don't care how ridiculous they look or sound. Find out more about Ecuador at ChevronTox
Their facility on the East coast of Thailand has pretty much ruined the ground water and surrounding area, too. They just don't care.
What would George Hayduke do?
and for all those who would open up the coast to more drilling, one question, do you think that our domestic drillers, like Exxon and Chevron, sell oil to their U.S. countrymen at a cheaper price than the stuff from Arabia?
Of course not. It is a world commodity. Do you get a better deal on US mined gold vs foreign gold? Do you know how a "market" works?
Thanks. Let's keep asking.
Excellent read.
Corporatism is our biggest problem. It subjugates everything we hold dear to the love of profits.
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