Red Light to Starboard: Recalling the Exxon Valdez Disaster

Minutes before supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, before rocks ripped a huge hole in her hull and a geyser of crude oil darkened the pristine waters of Prince William Sound, the ship's lookout burst through the chart room door. “That light, sir, it's still on the starboard side. It should be to port, sir.” Her frantic words were merely the last in a litany of futile warnings.

At the same moment, Valdez native Bobby Day was waiting for herring season to open. His intimate portrayal lends a local perspective and conveys the damage suffered by individuals and the fishing industry.

Red Light to Starboard documents a tragic event that stunned the world, recounts regional and national history, and explains how oil titans came to be entrusted with a spectacular, fragile ecosystem. It discusses the disaster's environmental consequences as well as ineffective governmental and public policy decisions. The book tracks responses to these failures that, through opportunities for citizen input and oversight, offer hope for the future.

Minutes before supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, before rocks ripped a huge hole in her hull and a geyser of crude oil darkened the pristine waters of Prince William Sound, the ship's lookout burst through the chart room door. That light, sir, it's still on the starboard side. It should be to port, sir. Her frantic words were merely the last in a litany of futile warnings.

The parade of ultimately unkept promises began the next day. President Frank Iarossi pronounced that the Exxon Shipping Company had assumed full financial responsibility. A week later, Alaska Governor Steve Cowper spoke at the Valdez Civic Center. We don't want anybody to think that they have to hire a lawyer and go into federal court and sue the largest corporation in America.

Eight days after the disaster, Valdez native Bobby Day flew over the spill and knew his life as a herring fisherma--a marine population that would be decimated by the spill--was shattered. He struggled with feelings of betrayal and guilt, and later, weathered the tensions of a divided community. His intimate portrayal lends a local perspective and conveys the damage inflicted upon individuals and the fishing industry.

Lengthy investigations revealed cover ups, covert operations, reckless corporate management, numerous safety violations, and a broken regulatory process. At the time of the spill, oil flowed through the Alyeska pipeline at a profit of $400,000 per hour. Yet in the end, the ten thousand fishermen affected by the spill spent nearly twenty years in litigation and received little compensation for their losses. Despite a massive cleanup effort, oil remains on the beaches and continues to impact marine life.

Red Light to Starboard documents the disaster that stunned the world, recounts regional and national history, and explains how oil titans came to be entrusted with a spectacular, fragile ecosystem. The book discusses the environmental consequences as well as ineffective governmental and public policy decisions. It tracks responses to these failures that, through opportunities for citizen input and oversight, offer hope for the future.

An absorbing read...the manuscript provides a personal and immediate account of the impacts of the spill on real people in real circumstances. --Max S. Power, author ofAmerica's Nuclear Wastelands

This book was hard to put down...a wonderfully told tale, rich with characters who leap off the pages...Readers will come away with a healthy skepticism for extractive industries, their relationship to government regulators, and the costs that often are paid in the search for mineral and oil/gas wealth. -- Edward P. Weber, Ulysses Dubach Professor of Political Science, School of Public Policy at Oregon State University