Contact: Aga Haupt
While Alaska is more than 3,000 miles from Mississippi, the Last Frontier State can provide the Magnolia State with some valuable lessons on major environmental disasters.
A Mississippi State University research scientist who studies the impact of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound said a similar environmental accident in the Gulf of Mexico most likely would have a less devastating sociological impact.
Duane Gill of the Social Science Research Center recently received a $78,000 National Science Foundation grant to continue his long-term investigation of community stress on commercial fishermen and Alaska natives resulting from the technological disaster. The spill of almost 11 million gallons of crude oil remains the largest such disaster in North American history.
Gill said the Mississippi Gulf Coast is far less dependent than Alaska on commercial fishing. Also, while the economy and social fabric of Alaska are based almost solely on renewable resources, the Coast economy has become increasingly dependent on the gambling industry.
"If spilled oil came ashore, maybe the casinos would close for a couple of weeks" but day-to-day life would not be disrupted, he said.
However, a major spill in the Gulf of Mexico could greatly damage the coastal fishing and tourism industries of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, Gill observed.
One of Gill's ongoing research goals is to develop a theoretical model for understanding the social impacts of major world technological disasters. Over the past decade, he and long-time colleague J. Steven Picou of the University of South Alabama have collected survey and ethnographic information in Cordova, Alaska, to measure community changes over the years after the spill.
Among other things, their studies found commercial fishermen and Alaska natives reporting elevated levels of event-related psychological stress continuing some four years after the spill. Also, stress levels seem to increase when affected individuals participate in litigation related to the disaster.
In 1994, a jury awarded the plaintiffs $400 million actual damages and $5 billion punitive damages. The case is now before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"There's a potential for a lot of money to come into the community, but there's also a potential for problems if the settlement is overturned," he said. He was referring to locals who've indicated that violence might erupt if Exxon ultimately wins.
Despite the continuing negative impacts, Gill said the Native American population of Cordova has undergone a dramatic cultural revitalization. Subsistence fishing, the last remaining part of the core cultural identity of the Alaska natives, was threatened by the spill.
When Gill first arrived in the town in 1989, "the native organization was in disarray and filled with disagreements," he said. "The natives were easily ignored in local affairs."
After years of rebuilding, Gill said a Cordova native village is producing profits and sponsoring a camp to teach children the cultural traditions of dancing, crafts and fishing. It is also an important voice in local community affairs.
Gill said lessons of the oil spill--for Alaska, Mississippi and other areas of the world--primarily are twofold. First, recovery is a long-term struggle. Second, prevention is better than the cure.
While the Gulf region has a lower chance of suffering from a similar spill, Gill said vigilance must never be taken for granted.
"Cutting corners could possibly cause another disaster," he said.