Red Light to Starboard: Recalling the Exxon Valdez Disaster

by Angela M. Day

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874223187
Publisher:	Washington State University Press
Publication date:	02/14/2014
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.69(d)

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.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 Red, Right, Returning 1

2 Hard Aground 7

3 "Were Going to Be Here for a While" 13

4 According to Plan 21

5 Irreconcilable Views 33

6 Silver on a Line 55

7 Siege at Sawmill Bay 67

8 "You Have My Word on That" 85

9 "Hang On, We're Going Around a Curve" 99

10 Fortune Seekers 113

11 "We Can Have Our Cake and Eat It Too" 129

12 Relying on Assurances 143

13 The Heart of the Sound 155

14 The Fall of Strict Liability 173

15 Deception 185

16 The Voice of the Sound 195

17 Disappearing Act 209

18 Blockade 217

19 Reckless Decision 221

Epilogue 233

Notes 245

Bibliography 255

Index 259

Editorial Reviews

"A work of love and thorough investigative journalism, delivered with the objectivity of a seasoned analyst."

—ForeWord magazine

"A deeply human reading. An exceptional piece of narrative history. Its lessons are many."

—Anchorage Daily News

"Day has done a meticulous job teasing out the appalling string of lax standards, safety violations, coverups, corporate malfeasance and bureaucratic bungles."

—The Bellingham Herald

"An informative and highly readable account of the spill as experienced by her husband Bobby Day, a lifelong fisherman in Prince William Sound."

—Alaska History

"[Day] explores how and why the Valdez crash, a rock thrown into the ecological-social pool, rippled into an ever-widening disaster."

—Barnes & Noble Review

From the Publisher