Helinski+Black+Wave

Black Wave Robert Cornellier 2008

This film did an excellent job with overviewing the tragedy of the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in the Prince William Sound and the devastating after math that the local residents were faced with as Exxon did not follow through with what was promised to the people or the environment. The film did a great job with documenting the collapse of the ecosystem in the area which almost all of the local residents depended on as a way of life. Although the efforts put forward by Exxon were done to make it seem as all is being restored, this film portrays how the matrix of issues from an environmental disaster do not stop once the accident is no longer visible from the surface. As the film covers the aftermath of the accident, it expresses the ruthless sides of big oil companies as Exxon has yet to pay a cent in fees which are owed to the people for lost revenue, environmental damages, and the ultimate disruption to their way of life.

Through the trial of destruction from this accident, the most obvious stakeholder is the environment and ecosystem in Prince William Sound that was destroyed. The toll that the oil spill took on the wildlife caused a rippling effect to the surrounding communities which brought all of the other stake holders into the horrible web of problems. The people who depended on the fish that lived within the sound were almost all put out of work due to the contamination and death of much of the fish population. Besides those who were directly affected from the spill, the other stakeholders include the Exxon Oil Company as well as the Supreme Court and state and national government levels.

Focusing on a single issue in the world of oil dependency, this film does not directly lay out the issues that are connected with the dependency but secondarily mentions them. The first is the method which we preform to extract the resource. Extracting the toxic substance and then transporting it through a fragile are such as the sound has many risks which can be seen through this accident. There are too many risks to manage and we do not have a sufficient means of regulating the extraction method to ensure that accidents like this do not happen. Even if there were general methods of regulation, the issue then becomes self-regulation within the companies. This can be seen through the assurance that the hulls of the tankers were thick enough to prevent one from opening up, yet this has no control over those who are operating the ship such as the captain of the Exxon Valdez being found to have alcohol within his system. Although it is unclear wither this was due to drinks while operating the ship or prior, this level of uncertainty just add additional risk to the methods which we extract and transport such a dangerous material.

This film does a great job of expressing the worst case scenario of what can go wrong with our dependency on oil. We are at a state where we require a resource that may be only available in extreme locations which place great risks with the extraction and transportation of it. Much like the oil fields on the Northern Shore of Alaska and the route that it must take in order to reach the locations where it is being demanded, this risks highly outweigh the rewards. This expresses the extreme risks to environment that we are willing to take in order to obtain a limited resource instead of finding alternatives. Our dependency has caused the general public to rely on several large powerful oil companies to power our nation. These companies have become so tycoon like that, choosing amongst them is much like choosing the lesser of the evils. The people of Cordova had no choice but to believe Exxon when they were told that there was no reason to worry about the measures taken to transport the oil from Alaska. This power and wealth of the oil companies almost allows for a false sense of comfort to be provided to the people who are potential at danger. In the situation where this false sense of trust is destroyed by an accident such as this spill, the true risk can be seen.

In addition to the devastation to the environment and the communities which depend on it, the power that the oil companies have in the American society is highlighted from this film. The ability to control the efforts of clean up and what is done to ensure that things are taken care of fall out of the hands of the government and into those who are responsible for it in this first place. Some may say that this is what should be done, but when the responsible party is a power-hungry organization, they are going to make the clean up as quick and cheap as possible because time is money. In addition to the cleanup efforts, the ability for Exxon to delay and dodge fees to be paid by court order is appalling. Not directly pointed out by the film, but it can be concluded that a shift away from crude oil would only lessen the chance of something as devastating as this of the BP Deep-water Horizon spill from ever occurring again. Both of these accidents can be claimed as the worst environmental disasters in oil’s history, and a move away from such a dependency would only lessen the chance of a third accident joining this two under that title. With the demand for oil increasing, we will be forced to reach to even harder to reach places and more difficult scenarios of extraction where the chance of spill is even greater.

I was personally persuaded by all of the individual testimonies from the people who lived within Cordova and those who were directly affected from the spill. It is the first persona testimonials that I find most impacting because it is coming from their experience. Many of the families expressed their frustrations with Exxon not fulfilling their promises, which is easy for the viewer to relate to because it is likely that they have been in a similar situation. The director did a great job with putting the audience in the situation and understanding the full extent of people effect so the whole perspective could be created.

I feel as though for the intentions of the film there was not much that I was not compelled by, but as a piece of environmental media I feel as though it could have been linked to the larger picture more effectively. Understanding that the basis of the film was around the Exxon Valdez spill, which was done excellently, this accident could have been linked to other documented oil spills to show how companies are getting away with the same crimes over and over. This spill was a horrible accident but was also a crucial piece to the fight against big oil, which I feel as though this film needed to portray a little but more of.

No actions were directly suggested by the film because honestly I cannot think of one think that could be suggested from such a situation. The film did the best that it could in such a horrible situation which is to inform. To spread the truth about what occurred and how it was handled is the only positive that can arise from this situation. Education is power in this situation and to inform all towns much like Cordova of the possibilities of destruction is what can be taken away. Understanding the action of Exxon in a situation like this is the only way to ensure that companies in the future will be held responsible for their actions. Although it can be seen with the recent BP spill that not much has changed in the legal processing, it should be a wakeup call that something needs to be done to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken to repair any damages.

After viewing this film I was compelled to do a little more research into what was currently being done with the cleanup efforts of the remain oil within the Prince William Sound. I was surprised and excited to come across an article that talk about a $1.5 million dollar grant from NOAA to investigate technologies that will enhance the natural biodegrading of the oil. Although I believe that it is going to take more than natural biodegrading to clean to oil, it is at least a start. Not thinking of the disturbance to the environment that would be required in order to remove the remaining oil, the article states that “We believe you can break down that oil in its current place without trying to get the oil out of the beaches to treat it,” said Boufadel. “The advantage of introducing chemical enhancements to biodegrade the oil is that it causes the least disturbance to the environment.”

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This article takes a positive angle that shows hope for more compensation for the accident that Exxon is responsible for. The case was brought back to court “ to argue over the meaning of a special section tucked into the original 1991 agreement over the spill that may or may not cost the company about $100 million.” The ability to bring the case back to court would be great for environmental disasters alike because it would put more pressure on companies to take responsibility for their actions and show that they will not be able to get away not taking responsibility. “The section is known as the “reopener” provision and, for the moment at least, it has reopened questions about Exxon Mobil’s continuing obligations and the government’s efforts — or lack thereof — to hold the company accountable.”