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Three years ago I attended a
presentation on the Exxon Valdez
wreckage on the reef South of
Valdez, Alaska.
The speaker was none other than
the former US Attorney who was
part of the prosecution team
where Captain Hazelwood and
others were charged with
negligence, alcohol use, etc, in
one of the worst oil spills
ever.
Jerry began his presentation by
asking for a show of hands on
how many of us (150) thought
that Hazelwood was either drunk
or impaired to some extent on
the morning in question.
95 of us raised our hands. We
are so gullible!!!!
Hazelwood had one drink at 6:00
PM in Valdez on his way back to
the ship. The government has the
receipt from the bar. He was
scheduled to embark at about
2:30 AM the next morning. When
he arrived back at the dock, the
message waiting from him
directed he depart at 9:00 PM
that evening to make room for
another tanker that was inbound.
The Exxon Valdez departed as
ordered.
Then Jerry pulled out a map of
the shipping channel which shows
the passage routes of all ships
to and from Valdez.
Here comes the surprise! All
outbound ships, by order of
their owners, are directed to
travel South on the East side of
the shipping channel to avoid
ice bergs!!! Being a loyal
Captain who had been plying
these waters for 13 years,
Hazelwood did as he was told. He
left orders for the First Mate
to make the turn to Starboard
(right) at a given time based on
speed and distance to avoid
hitting the reef which they all
knew was there.
The First Mate was late in
redirecting the ship back into
the shipping channel and the
rest, as they say, is history.
The Jury has awarded 10 billion
dollars to Valdez. The Charge?
Negligence! Hazelwood has his
license suspended. The lawyers
made a bundle.
The judgment is under appeal
because of the items above.
When the US Government got
involved, they knew all this
crap!
So, lets not be to quick to put
the blame on this latest
disaster until all the info is
public!
Bests,
John
You bring up Some Interesting
Points:
Regardless of
what led up to
the actual
'hitting' of the
reef ... it
probably
wouldn't have
amounted to
anything at all
... if the one
at the helm
hadn't gone back
and forth and
ripped a bigger
hole in the
hull.
I did hear from
the City Mayor
who was Police
Chief in those
days that Valdez
got $100,000 for
letting Exxon
use the animal
shelter
incinerator to
'burn the waste.
That they also
used the Alyeska
incinerator and
put 2
incinerators
side by side ...
each emitting
the maximum
allowable per
EPA air quality
standards ...
and that they
shipped some
out, and they
buried some
(wish I knew
where) ...
And that they
trucked some to
Prudhoe Bay and
had the North
Star Borough
under VECO
(their front co)
to use an
incinerator
there to burn up
the waste from
the oil spill
cleanup. (Why
don't they
consider an
incinerator
still in use as
a cause of
sea ice melting?)
There's also
another waste
incinerator that
has been added
at North Pole,
Alaska since
those days ...
burning 24/7's
That has to have
an impact, too.
Some of our
people, seems to
be a lot for a
small community
are getting
brain tumors. Do
you think it
might have
something to do
with
2-butoxyethanol
getting in the
air?
The 5 billion
that has grown
to 7 billion is
for the oiled
communities (of
which Valdez is
NOT one) But
alas, that
hasn't been
paid, yet ...
but soon.
The govt? I
think they're
clueless
You must be an
important person
to have such an
introduction. |
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More of the story
9-30-05
Web
It's been 16 years
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