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Exxon Valdez trustees may change recovery definitions At issue is whether species have recovered after 1989 oil spill; Craig Tillery, trustee council chairman, says council “will be looking at the classifications themselves;” species that have not recovered include loon, harbor seal Allen Baker For the Associated Press
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council may change the definitions it has been using on whether wildlife species damaged by the 1989 oil spill have recovered.
The council took public comment June 14 on a draft report on 23 species and animal groupings the council has been tracking in Prince William Sound.
If the trustees agree with the April report, half a dozen species and groups would be moved to the “recovered” list. A vote on the report could come at a July 9 meeting.
But the trustees may delay the vote. And they could add categories to reflect the fact that scientists may never pinpoint the extent of damage from the 11 million gallons of oil that gushed from the Exxon Valdez.
“We will be looking at the classifications themselves,” said Craig Tillery, chairman of the trustee council. “We might want to go back and look at whether we’ll ever know if something is recovered.” Still oil in the environment Even spending millions of dollars on more studies might not provide an answer, said Molly McCammon, executive director for the trustees.
“We know there is still oil in the environment. A low level, but more than we thought would be there now,” McCammon said. “It could be out there for a hundred years. Does that keep us from saying a species is recovered, because they will have exposure (to oil) at some point in their lives?”
Bob Spies, lead scientist for the trustees, said the levels of exposure outside oil patches are relatively low.
“We do see some problems in those species — but whether it’s due to oil or other factors isn’t clear,” he said.
Tillery, who represents the state’s Law Department, said he was troubled by labeling system in place. “More precise labeling might be the way to address this,” he said.
Representatives of environmental groups and others testified June 14 that they felt some species shouldn’t be moved to the recovered list. Condition of killer whales an issue Killer whales have been the big draw for comment on animals set for placement on the recovered list, which had only two members in the last update, in 1999.
Whale scientist Craig Matkin of the North Gulf Oceanic Society said he felt that moving the “AB pod” of whales onto the recovered list wasn’t warranted, since the group still hasn’t reached its pre-spill population of 36 whales.
The group of killer whales, or orcas, lost 13 members in 1989 and 1990 and slid to a low of 22 before recovering to 26 whales. It’s one of eight pods in the sound.
Under a revised definition for “recovered” status for the whales, the pod was to be moved into that category when the population was considered stable or increasing. Matkin says that isn’t warranted.
“There’s no indication the pod can’t recover to 36 individuals,” Matkin said in his testimony. “The other pods have all been increasing at 2 percent a year for the last 20 years.”
Impact of reduction of punitive damages Looming over the discussion June 14 was the news from earlier in the week that Exxon Mobil Corp. has asked a federal court to cut the $5 billion in punitive damages awarded by an Anchorage jury to just $25 million to $40 million. An appeals court found the $5 billion award was excessive. ExxonMobil argues the sound has recovered completely.
While that court case is a separate issue, Matkin and others say the trustee council’s assessment of the spill’s continuing impact will gain wide public attention.
“I’m really concerned about all the perceptions — the Exxon perception,” Matkin said. “I think it’s important that you provide this component of education.”
In addition to the whales, the draft report calls for pink salmon, red salmon, common murres, black oystercatchers and subtidal communities to go on the “recovered” list. They would join bald eagles and river otters there. Some species still not recovering Still on the list of species that are not recovering some 13 years after the spill are the common loon, three species of cormorants, the harbor seal and the pigeon guillemot.
Seven species or groups will be on the recovering list if the council goes along with the recommendation of its chief scientist.
But even moving the harlequin duck onto that list from “not recovering” brought an objection from the National Wildlife Federation, which said that there was no new data since the 1999 report. Besides, the federation says, the harlequin duck populations in unoiled parts of the sound are growing much faster than those in oiled areas, showing the ducks are still being hurt by residual oil.
“I think there’s an inclination to get things out (of) the way by kicking them up the ladder,” said Jim Adams, a lawyer for the federation.
The trustee council should be very careful about its progress reports, he said.
“The public looks to the trustee council to give them the real scoop on what’s going on in the sound,” he told the panel.
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