Oil Spill Awareness Lectures

Katie over at Friends of the San Juans has this announcement to share with you…

March 24, 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  The accident caused a sea change in the environmental consciousness of an entire generation and created a new awareness about the risks of resource extraction and transport.  Twenty-five years later, these issues are both timely and timeless as residents in the Puget Sound area contemplate proposed massive increases in the amount of crude oil and coal transported by rail and through our waters.

We hope you’ll join us next week to learn more about what would happen in the event of a major oil spill in San Juan County and the role you can play to help with preparedness.

Gary Shigenaka, a marine biologist for NOAA, who specializes in marine life studies during oil spills, will talk about how various cargo and propulsion oils would likely behave if spilled in our marine environment.  Julie Knight, Executive Director of Islands Oil Spill Association (IOSA), will talk about local spill response preparedness.

Our Islands at Risk Lectures:  Increased Vessel Traffic and Increased Risk of a Major Oil Spill

• Lopez Island: Friday, March 14, 7:00-8:30 pm at Lopez Center
• Orcas Island: Saturday, March 15, 12:30-2:30 pm at Orcas Episcopal Church
• San Juan Island: Sunday, March 16, 12:30-2:30 pm at the San Juan Island Grange

Background:

When the Exxon Valdez (a 984′ long tanker) struck a reef in Prince William Sound it spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil. Despite containment efforts, the oil coated 1,300 miles of coastline (over 3 times of all combined coastlines in San Juan County), and covered an area about 25 times the area of SJC waters. Twenty-five years later, an estimated 20,000 gallons of Valdez crude oil is still in Alaska’s sand and soil. The tragic ripples of ecological and economic devastation are still being felt today; several marine species and commercial fishing are still recovering or have yet to recover from the spill.

Now, the waters surrounding San Juan Islands are slated to become one of North America’s busiest fossil fuel trans-shipment corridors. With proposed new and expanded projects in Canada and Washington 2,620 additional deep draft vessel transits are proposed per year in our waters. A single spill from the larger tankers and cargo ships could have an equally devastating impact in our area as the Exxon Valdez had in Prince William Sound.

Join us at one of these lectures to learn more about how we can work together to protect the San Juan Islands from an oil spill.  If you can, please arrive early and help set up chairs!

Thank you for your support,
Katie

P.S.  Stay tuned in the coming weeks for additional oil spill awareness events.  In the meantime, visit www.sanjuans.org for more information or download an events poster here.

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