Dear Friends,      

 I obtained an advanced copy of the DVD "Black Wave" about the Exxon Oil Spill and it's impact on the city of Cordova, Alaska.  I watched it tonight and found it almost a religious experience.  Certainly a documentary that produces, at the least, disgust toward ExxonMobil, as it is now called.      

 March 24 will be the 20th anniversary of the oil spill that happened in 1989.  The 24th may be the official release date of the film.  It was produced in Canada by the CBC and Quebec.  The main hero is Rikki Ott who has written two books on the spill and has spoken at Prescott College.  Her latest book is "Not One Drop" based on the quote of Ted Stevens in 1974 that "Not one drop of oil would touch the waters of Prince William Sound.".         

 I will try to get the Chino Valley library to buy this DVD; everyone should see it. 

 After 20 years, Exxon, is finally paying damages when recently the Supreme Court reduced from 5 billion to 500 million.  Rikki Ott is now campaigning to reduce corporate power.   

Mr  P

        Marine biologist and Cordova fisherman Riki Ott gave an interview on
the Exxon oil spill to "In These Times".

         http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4245/our_town_vs_exxon/

        Some interesting facts leading up to the 1989 Exxon Oil Spill.

         Prince William fisherman had gotten an injunction against the pipeline coming to Valdez because of the possibility of an oil spill.  This was in the early 70s.  Then the Yom Kippur war broke out and the Arabs put in an oil embargo.  The Senate had a vote to override the Alaska court and the fisherman's injunction.  The vote was 49 to 49; then Spiro Agnew as Vice President gave the deciding vote that brought the pipeline to Valdez.

        Capt. Hazelwood didn't have a driver's license for a car because of a DUI.  He had also been in rehabilitation for alcoholism.  Yet he was in charge of the Super Tanker.

        Dan Lawn, the State Inspector at the Valdez terminal had written memos saying no one was prepared for an oil spill years before it happened.

        Riki Ott gave a speech to people in Valdez about the dangers of an oil spill hours before it happened.

        16 of the 24 species affected by the oil spill have not come back in sustaining numbers including the herring.

        Exxon spent three years cleaning the beaches yet to this day a person can dig a hole and find oil pools.

        At the peak, Exxon had 11,000 people working to clean the beaches but they had no idea how to do it.  They started out with rags, then went to steam hoses, and then to a chemical Inipol whose fumes were more toxic then the oil fumes.  Inipol, a French fertilizer, is no longer made and is now blamed for the many sicknesses EVOS workers now have.

Mr P

3-24-09 ... and 3-24-89 was Good Friday that year

25 years before on Good Friday was the 1964 Alaska earthquake


New documentary www.blackwavethefilm.com  Black Wave
has an excellent clip of 13 minutes on what the clean up workers health issues were
THIS is the topic not dealt with and the one with most significance to our Nation's health

"A War Zone" .... The DVD comments that EPA approved the Inipol EAP 22, and that it contained 2-butoxyethanol (a toxic substance)
and that it is no longer manufactured

What is not said is that 2-butoxyethanol was 12% strength in inipol ... and 38% strong in Corexit ... which IS still used and approved by the US Coast Guard for a dispersant in oil spill cleanup

That there are many products we are use that contain this component (Simple Green, etc)
and no product developer has to even state that it is there

We need new laws
http://www.valdezlink.com/re/clean/cleanshower.htm

Certainly Pres Obama would favor full disclosure
if he wants to take us in the right direction for good health