Red Light to Starboard: Recalling the Exxon Valdez Disaster - Softcover

Angela M. Day (author)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0874223180 ISBN 13: 9780874223187

Publisher: WSU Press, 2014

Synopsis

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 Prince William Sound's pristine waters, 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." 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."

Valdez native Bobby Day flew over the spill and knew his livelihood was in jeopardy. He struggled with betrayal and guilt, and later, tensions within a divided community. His story lends a local perspective and conveys the damage to individuals and the fishing industry.

Lengthy investigations revealed cover ups, reckless management, numerous safety violations, and a broken regulatory process. Lawmakers aligned with businesses, and fishermen spent nearly twenty years in litigation. Despite a massive cleanup effort, oil remains on beaches and continues to impact marine life.

Angela Day documents a story 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 environmental consequences, failed governmental and public policy decisions, and changes that offer hope for the future.

Red Light to Starboard won the Western Writers of America's 2015 Spur Award for Best Western Contemporary Nonfiction, two IndieFab Awards from ForeWord Magazine, and was named a 2015 American Library Association Outstanding University Press Title.

About this title

About the Author

My personal connection and the intriguing history made this a story I had to tell," Angela Day explains. The effort fueled her professional and avocational passions. To complete her manuscript, for nearly a decade she worked evenings and summers around a full-time job and graduate school. She received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Washington. Her doctoral research evaluated when, and under what conditions, whistleblower protection laws effectively increased safety.

From the Back Cover

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 Alaska's 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 that same moment on March 24, 1989, Cordova native Bobby Day was in a hotel room waiting for the herring season to open. His intimate story lends a local perspective and conveys the damage suffered by individuals and the fishing industry.

Lengthy investigations revealed cover ups, reckless management, numerous safety violations, and a broken regulatory process. 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 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.

"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

From the Inside Flap

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

Edition details

• Publisher: WSU Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0874223180
• ISBN 13: 9780874223187
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272