By Anjuli Grantham
“The oil spill’s impact on the psychosocial
environment was as significant as its impact on the physical environment.”
—Lawrence Palinkas
et al. “Community Patters of Psychiatric Disorders after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill”
I was just in 2nd grade when the
crude oil from the hull of the Exxon
Valdez coated the water and coastline from Prince William Sound down to
Kodiak. I remember booms used to contain the spread of oil floating in the sea,
shouting matches amongst friends and family about clean up contracts, and the
years of anxiously, then increasingly despondently, waiting for settlement
money.
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Toby Sullivan and his daughter, Jordan,
join other Kodiak
community members
in a 1989 protest against Exxon's clean
up response in
Kodiak. Image courtesy
Kodiak Historical Society.
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Nearly 25 years have passed since coastal
Alaskan communities were decimated by the oil spill and the environmental and
social repercussions left in its wake, yet it is a recent pain for many
Alaskans. “It’s still too raw,” a journalist/ fisherman recently told me as we
reflected on the event in our community.
Around the state of Alaska, historical
societies, government agencies, and individuals have initiated projects to
preserve the history of the spill and reflect on its impacts. For example, as
previously mentioned in this blog, the Alaska State Archives is completing the
monumental task of processing the Exxon
Valdez litigation materials. Moreover, in 2011 the Valdez Museum expanded
its permanent exhibit about the spill. The exhibit features a piece of the
Exxon Valdez oil tanker’s hull and the diverse perspectives of Valdez community
members impacted by the event.
“Children of the Spills” is an oral history
project conceived of and completed by Katie Aspen of Homer. After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf
of Mexico, she envisioned that the experiences and reflections of those who
were children during the Exxon Valdez
disaster could bring healing to the children affected in the Gulf. She also
hoped that the oral histories could provide guidance to the parents and support
networks of children impacted by oil spills. In “Children of the Spills,” Aspen
preserves voices of Alaskans and children from the Gulf of Mexico, recording a
perspective often neglected by historians- that of kids.
Recently, the Baranov Museum in Kodiak acquired materials
that will help us to preserve the legacy of the spill in our region. The Kodiak Daily Mirror donated their
collection of photographs taken during 1989, depicting protests, clean up
efforts, and public meetings. Moreover, we received a protest banner that is so
large that it could only have been hung from the ceiling or outside of a
building.
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A large Exxon Valdez protest banner,
recently donated to
the Baranov Museum.
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What other materials related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill are hiding in
closets around the state and Outside? Although for many, the oil spill is
“still too raw,” it is now time to boost our efforts to collect and preserve
this critical event in Alaska’s recent past.
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