The History of Valdez (06-29-14)

Exxon Valdez

Valdez- pronounced Valdeez, as in the “ Exxon Valdez” is, in fact, the place where the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989. So, right off the bat, most of us have heard of this small town. 
There are two good museums here and we went to them both. It was interesting hearing about the Exxon Valdez disaster from people who live here.  Here’s the synopsis of the tanker story:


  (By the way- quite a few of my pictures will look hazy- not quite clear.  That’s because it’s either foggy or drizzling most of the time)

Valdez is the terminus for the famous Alaskan Pipeline. This 48” diameter pipe pushes millions of gallons of  crude oil through it, from the far reaches of the oilfields to the small town of Valdez.  Valdez has the distinction of being the northernmost ice free deep port in North America, so tankers can come in and out of here all year long.

  On  March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez was one of the tankers in the harbor.  The captain, Joseph Hazelwood, motored the tanker out of port and was dodging glacier ice. He changed heading to avoid it, set the auto pilot, and called his 3rd mate to the bridge.



The 3rd mate was told to dodge the ice, then disengage the auto pilot and change the heading to avoid the reef. The captain went below.  The officer followed orders, but he forgot to disengage the auto pilot.  By the time he realized that the ship had not responded and changed course, it was too late.  They hit the reef.  

11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound, and pandemonium ensued.   Unable to contain the spill (only 10% was ever recovered) due to inadequate equipment and bad weather, the oil spread. The population of Valdez jumped from 3600 to 12,000 as hundreds of oil containment workers, and animal rescue volunteers poured into town.

500,000 sea birds died.  At least 22 Killer Whales died. 250 Bald Eagles died.  And thousands of sea otters and seals died.

25 years after the accident, you wouldn’t know, on the surface, that it had ever happened.  The sea life seems to be thriving.  But underneath, of course there has been an effect.  There is still oil on some of the shoreline.

A lot was learned during the clean up of the Exxon Valdez- in fact, so  much was learned about it that Tom Colby from the Alaska Tanker Company said in 2009- “100% prevention is today’s goal because response levels, no  matter how quick, or what percentages of oil recovered, will never be good enough for the environment or a community dealing with the consequences of a spill”.

Well, that’s more than I planned on writing about that……

If you’re still awake, here’s more interesting history:

Earthquake!

Valdez was established in the late 1800s, in response to the Klondike gold rush. Many prospectors came through here on their way to strike it rich. A town slowly developed in the area that was easiest for the boats to come ashore.  It seemed to make sense at the time.  Why build a town away from the path the prospectors would take? 





In the end, though, it was a really bad idea. The town of Valdez was built on top of glacier silt and debris. Having nothing very solid under the buildings led to disaster.

On March 27, 1964, Valdez experienced the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America (it still holds that record).  At 9.2 on the Richter Scale, the earthquake lasted almost 5 minutes.  Residents say the earth didn’t shake- it rolled- like a wave. The soil gave way and all of the town docks, and some of the waterfront buildings fell into the water.

The landslide caused a tidal wave that infiltrated most of the town.  All the water mains broke.  Buildings fell. 28 people died.  When everything was quiet, the land had shifted sideways and had sunk 9 feet.

That 9 feet was important because it meant that the tides would now intrude much further into the town. The decision was made that there was no choice-the town of Valdez would have to move.

  Local businessman Owen Meals donated nearby land for the relocation of the town, and within 3 years of the earthquake, the town had been physically moved. The museum has dioramas showing exactly how the old town was laid out. 





Once the process was complete, the Old Town was demolished and has now returned to wilderness.