Sunday March 14 8:50 AM ET

Valdez Spill Of 1989 Crippled Sound, Alaskans Say

By Yereth Rosen

CORDOVA, Alaska (Reuters) - Ten years after the worst oil spill in American history, Prince William Sound looks as lovely as ever, but it sits in silent splendor. The birds are gone, and the waters no longer teem with fish.

Environmentalists and Exxon Corp. (NYSE:XON - news) still argue over the impact the Exxon Valdez had when it slammed into a reef 40 miles from this fishing community and dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into the icy waters, soiling 1,300 miles of coastline.

Exxon says the sound has not suffered any lasting damage, but local fishermen like Ross Mullins say they know better. Despite its pristine appearance, they say, the sound is crippled.

Water that was once soupy with marine life is now clear to the bottom, these locals say. Coves that used to echo with bird calls and the splash of seals and sea otters are now silent, they add. And oil can be found just below the surface of many beaches.

``We ended up getting what we thought would happen,'' said Mullins, who years ago campaigned unsuccessfully for an all-land route for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline to avert the risks of marine shipping.

The accident on March 24, 1989, horrified the nation with images of tar-covered beaches and oiled birds and sea mammals, forcing Congress to demand changes, including a new generation of safer, double-hulled tankers for Alaskan waters.

Exxon Capt. Joseph Hazelwood, who admitted he downed tumblers of vodka in a local bar before boarding the vessel, was acquitted of the most serious charges against him, including operating a ship while intoxicated. The verdict led Alaska to tighten laws governing mariners' conduct. As the anniversary approaches, environmentalists are turning up the heat on Exxon, asking Congress to halt the company's planned mega-merger with Mobil Corp. (NYSE:MOB - news) until it agrees to pay $5 billion in damages assessed in a 1994 judgement that is under appeal.

The Exxon Valdez spill was smaller than others that have occurred elsewhere in the world but was by far the deadliest to wildlife, killing an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, and an unknown number of salmon and herring.

Only two species, bald eagles and river otters, have recovered from the spill, according to government scientists who work for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, which administers the $900 million fund Exxon agreed to establish to settle government damage claims.

Exxon disputes the council's findings.

``The environment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thriving,'' the company said in a statement. ``It is Exxon's position -- and that of many independent scientists -- that there are no species in (the sound) in trouble due to the impact of the 1989 oil spill.''

Like the sound, Cordova -- a village of 2,500 people wedged between water, dense spruce forests and steep peaks -- is outwardly placid. But the economy of the town, which is home to the sound's fishing fleet, has been undermined.

Salmon runs now vary wildly, with record catches turning to collapses. Several herring harvests have been closed.

Like other Alaska fishermen, Cordovans have suffered from market woes unrelated to the spill. But residents have seen total harvests slashed to an average of $25 million annually from 1989 to 1997, compared with $44 million in 1987 and 1988.

``Where else could you have lost half your income for 10 years?'' Riki Ott, a local fisherman and activist, asked.

Exxon, which says it has treated residents fairly, contends that the sound is completely healed and in any case was far from pristine before the spill.

``Whatever effect the spill is having now is so minute, compared to the other human and natural activities,'' said David Page, a Bowdoin College scientist contracted by Exxon.

Stan Senner, a scientist working for the trustee council, agreed that as time passed, it had become more difficult to assess the impact of the spill. But he said it clearly had exacerbated problems caused by climate change and other factors.

He cited the case of murres, the seabirds killed in greatest numbers by the spill. Two summers ago, the birds suffered another calamity when thousands washed up dead on beaches. El Nino was blamed, but the oil spill had already weakened the population, Senner said.

``What is proof, anyway? It's like dueling scientists and PR,'' said former Mayor Kelly Weaverling, owner of the Orca Bookstore and Killer Whale Cafe.

Cordova has become a case study for researchers examining post-traumatic stress, leaving residents feeling ``a little bit like lab rats,'' Weaverling said. A former mayor killed himself a few years after the spill, citing frustrations with Exxon.

Weaverling, an avid kayaker, had not been back to the oiled western part of the sound until recently, when he was invited by a television crew.

``It is kind of spooky out there. Not for everybody, but only for the people who were there before or for the people who were there during,'' he said.

At almost every beach where he stopped, he said, he found buried oil. He said he did not intend to return.