The commercial fishermen of Cordova battled big oil companies long before the Exxon Valdez oil spill tainted Prince William Sound and disrupted their way of life. The struggle is documented in a 1985 doctoral thesis by James Payne titled “Our Way of Life is threatened and Nobody Seems to Give a Damn.”

The Prudhoe Bay oil strike in 1968 precipitated a rush by the oil industry and the State of Alaska to bring the field into production. The following year the state leased 179 tracts for exploration. A consortium of companies formed the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company and applied for a permit to construct an oil pipeline.

Alyeska opted for an all-Alaska route for the pipeline and selected Valdez as the site for an oil terminal. Cordova fishermen were concerned that tanker traffic through Prince William Sound posed a threat to the ecosystem and to their livelihoods.

Two obstacles stalled construction of the pipeline. In 1967, Interior Secretary Morris Udall imposed a land freeze in Alaska pending settlement of Native land claims. The freeze prevented Alyeska from securing a right-of-way for the pipeline. Passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act in 1971 removed that obstacle.

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 posed a second challenge to pipeline construction. Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth and the Environmental Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in 1969 against then Interior Secretary Walter Hickel, on the grounds that pipeline construction violated NEPA. U.S. District Court Judge Hart imposed a temporary injunction on pipeline construction.

Cordova fishermen mobilize

The Cordova District Fisheries Union began to mobilize once it became clear the state and federal governments were in support of the Valdez terminal.

The union voted unanimously to impose a 1 cent tax on each salmon caught in order to create a legal fund. Cordova cannery workers likewise voted to contribute to the fund. In this way, they were able to raise $50,000.

In April 1971, CDFU filed a suit in U.S. District Court against Interior Secretary Morton and Agriculture Secretary Hardin to prevent the pipeline terminating in Valdez. The union maintained that there were no long-term studies on the effects of oil on salmon and that the Canadian pipeline route was not adequately explored.

In an ironic backdrop to the controversy, President Nixon signed a proclamation designating 1971 as the Fisheries Centennial Year.

In August 1971, Alyeska and the State of Alaska intervened as defendants in the lawsuits. The state’s motives thus became clear.

CDFU representatives toured the Lower 48 that winter to drum up support for their cause. Cordova fisherman Ross Mullins participated in the tour and remembers their visit to D.C.

“Rep. Nick Begich was very helpful. But our senators, Stevens and Gravell, were not. Stevens was intractable. His mind was set, and he wouldn’t listen to a word we had to say. And when we met with Gravell, he finally asked, ‘What do you want me to do? Pour gasoline on my head and light it on fire?’” Mullins recalled.

“We had allies in the state Legislature in Jay Hammond and Bob Palmer, who tried to get things slowed down. But with the state, anything that slowed oil money down was viewed as obstructive,” Mullins said.

In August 1972, Judge Hart dissolved the temporary injunction against pipeline construction and dismissed the complaint. The fishermen and environmentalists consolidated their suits and appealed.

The appeal was based on three points: The plaintiffs argued that the width of the proposed right-of-way for the pipeline violated the Mineral Leasing Act. Secondly, they argued that the land-use permit requested from the U.S. Forest Service for construction of a tank farm near Valdez was non-compliant. Finally, they maintained that the pipeline would violate NEPA.

The court ruled in February 1973. Although the court passed no decision on the challenged land-use permit by the U.S. Forest Service and sidestepped the issue of NEPA compliance, it ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on the point that the right-of-way width violated the Mineral Leasing Act. Again, pipeline construction was put on hold.

The Justice Department appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the higher court refused to review the case. Thus, the Cordova fishermen had prevailed. They halted construction of the pipeline and the establishment of an oil terminal in Valdez.

Congressional end-around

The celebration didn’t last long, however. Interior Secretary Morton appealed to Congress for a solution to the pipeline dilemma. Alaska Sens. Stevens and Gravell introduced legislation that would block any court challenges to construction of the pipeline based on environmental considerations.

The timing of the legislative action coincided with the Arab oil embargo. Thus, oil proponents trumpeted the cause of domestic production as a solution to the crisis. The vote in the Senate ended in a tie and was decided by Vice President Spiro Agnew’s vote in favor of the measure. President Nixon signed the pipeline authorization in November 1973.

The aftermath

“It makes you wonder what you could have done differently. I’ve tried to put it behind me. It was such a big part of everyone’s life here,” Mullins said.

When his worst fears were realized with the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in 1989, Mullins was stunned.

“Even though we knew it was likely, you never really think it’ll happen,” Mullins said.

Prince William Sound still suffers from environmental damage wrought by the spill. Oil persists in the sound, and animals such as herring, clams, mussels, pigeon guillemot, black oystercatchers and sea otters have yet to fully recover.

The collapse of the herring fishery has left many fishermen facing state loans without any means of repayment. Many had hoped the Exxon settlement would compensate them sufficiently to allow repayment of loans.

John Platt, a second-generation Cordova fisherman, is a case in point.

“I am frustrated to no end. The state has made billions of dollars having oil transported through Prince William Sound. When the oil spill that they said would never happen happened, they have for the most part abandoned us,” Platt said.

The U.S. Supreme Court decision to reduce Exxon’s penalties to the point of being inconsequential is a final slap in the face.

“Coming from small towns in Alaska, it’s not easy to reach the public ear. Exxon came here and told us, ‘We will make you whole.’ They had no intention of doing it. It’s been very depressing and disheartening to Cordova. We’re living in a different world,” Mullins said.

The waiting is over for Cordova fishermen. Now they’re left to piece together a shattered way of life.

John Platt summed it up, saying, “By settling with Exxon, the state effectually eliminated any leverage we victims had of a timely negotiated settlement. Twenty years after the spill the State of Alaska still holds fishermen accountable for debt on fisheries that have been devastated by Exxon’s negligence. Yet, they continue to do business with Exxon as if the spill never happened. It seems, our way of life is ruined—no longer threatened—and nobody seems to give a damn.”

Mirror writer Harry Dodge can be reached at hdodge@kodiakdailymirror.com.