Exxon Valdez legal papers to be archived

The Alaska State Archives is embarking on a project to sort the extensive state litigation documents created in the wake of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

In five years of litigation, the state Department of Law built a case file of millions of pages, said a Nov. 1 press release from the State Archives in Juneau.

Nearly 11 million gallons of Alaska North Slope crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef. The disaster triggered extensive legal action against Exxon.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the grantmaking affiliate of the National Archives, is funding the project to evaluate and make accessible the Exxon Valdez state litigation records. A records assessment began Oct. 1.

Archivists will determine what records to keep for permanent public knowledge and what to discard. The two-year project will use two full-time professional archivists. Permanent records will be organized, cataloged and then publicized around the world, the State Archives said.

“Work will emphasize access within Alaska before efforts to reach the world at large,” said project director Larry Hibpshman. “The oil spill happened to Alaska and its people were most significantly impacted. They should be as thoroughly involved as possible.”

A seven-member oversight task force will review and comment on project activities and advise staff on issues historians don’t usually deal with, such as legalities and restrictions, science and technology, community and regional affairs, and how to best keep the public informed, the State Archives said.

Task force members are Andrew Goldstein, Valdez Museum and Historical Archives; Patience Andersen Faulkner, Eyak Tribal Council; Craig Tillery, the state’s lead oil spill litigation attorney; Barbara Hendrickson, the state’s lead case paralegal; Jennifer Schorr, Department of Law Environmental Section assistant attorney general; Carrie Holba, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees Council librarian; and former Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Kurt Fredriksson.

“Others closely associated with the spill and litigation will provide advice and information,” the State Archives said.

—Wesley Loy