 Volunteers in protective clothing enlist the aid of earth-moving machinery, in an attempt to clear away oil-soaked sand and boulders on a Spanish beach damaged by the Prestige oil spill. Photo credit: Jorge Sierra, WWF Spain |
Q: When you learned of the oil spill created by the disaster on the Prestige tanker, were you surprised?
A: Not at all. We are all, obviously, shocked when something like this happens. That's especially true when the potential environmental and cultural disaster may be five times larger than even the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska. But, we should not be surprised that older vessels, like the Prestige, fail and pose enormous dangers. We have been saying for many years, before and after the Exxon Valdez, that current worldwide regulation and enforcement are not enough to protect the oceans and the people who live and exist beside them.
Q: What could or should have been done to prevent the Prestige tragedy?
A: This is a very complex problem that has many dimensions. First and foremost, older vessels such as the Prestige simply must be taken out of service. They are "time bombs" that could fail at any time, and we have a long and sad record to prove it. If there are economic reasons for keeping these vessels afloat in the oceans when they are known to be outdated, we must take the economic incentive out of their prolonged usage. Governments should severely penalize operators of these vessels who "fly under the flags of complacency." The world cannot afford these mistakes. We cannot allow there to be "affordable losses" that governments are willing to accept. The price is simply too high.
Q: Are there ways to make shipping oil and other toxic materials safer?
A: Yes, and we have many of these technologies now. But, they are more expensive than doing business as usual. As long as operators are willing to take trade high risk for their reward nothing will change. Responsible governments and citizens throughout the world must demand the replacement of outmoded means of transportation for toxic materials on our oceans and waterways.
Q: What do you believe the effects of this major oil spill will be now and in the future?
A: Certainly, there are the immediate effects we see on television. Wildlife by the millions killed or harmed. We can clearly see the environmental damage and the spoiled beaches. But, the damage, which is less reported, because it has a longer timeline, is the cultural and societal destruction. We did a film many years ago on the Exxon Valdez spill, and we found many of the problems there that will inevitably occur in Spain, Portugal and France. Small towns will be wiped out because their cultures relied on a partnership with the ocean. That symbiotic human and natural interaction has now been destroyed. We can, unfortunately, expect immediate and long-term economic decline due to the loss of the fishing industry, which served as a primary financial base for the region. Families that rely on fishing or tourism or any number of occupations that require the nearby ocean are gone almost overnight. When towns, jobs and industries fail, there is enormous stress on families and the fabric of their societies. Negative social indicators will become apparent, including a leap in unemployment that gives rise to increased poverty, crime and social despair. In the future, we may also see new health risks to nearby communities due to the oil toxicity on the beaches and fumes in the air.
We must assess the social and cultural damage done by these oil spills just as we assess the environmental damage. Some fishermen and others may temporarily "exchange" the income they received from fishing with pay from cleaning up the spill. Others may pick up and move to another location. Ultimately the dislocation of the social structure that was there before the spill can never be put back in place as before. We will not see the whole picture for many years, even decades.
Q: Will the world respond to this disaster differently than in the past?
A: Governments around the world should hear this as a clear wake up call. The potential environmental, economic and social implications from disasters, such as the Prestige, not only threaten the future of our oceans, but governments themselves. Social unrest in nations facing these toxic onslaughts is a danger to governments that refuse to protect its citizens. We issued a very strong statement at the NAUSICAA 2002 conference on this topic when we learned of the events surrounding the Prestige. But, we all fear that when the news shifts to other current events, the imperative could be lost. Ocean Futures Society and collaborative groups around the world intend to keep pressure on governments and industries to act responsibly. The oceans cannot save themselves from what humans do to them by acts of commission or omission. As our mission statement at Ocean Futures Society says, "protect the oceans and you protect yourself." By forcing responsible management of ocean-going transportation, we protect the very societies that rely on the health of the oceans. A wounded ocean has a wounded society beside it. A dead ocean has a dead society beside it. We are inextricably connected and we must act now.
