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Help Prevent Oil Spills In Alaska’s Coastal Waters!

Target: Members of Congress
Sponsored by: Alaska Oceans Program

An oil-soaked sea otter in the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

Once again, AlaskaÂ’s pristine waters have fallen victim to a devastating oil spill. On December 8, 2004, a Malaysian freighter, Selendang Ayu, ran aground in the Aleutian Islands after its engine failed in severe weather. Six humans were lost and at least 40,000 gallons of oil leaked into one of the worldÂ’s most remote and ecologically rich wildlife refuges, the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. This was the worst oil spill in U.S. waters since the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.

The Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge is home to a wide array of sea birds and marine mammals, and is part of the rich North Pacific fishery, which generates nearly $2 billion in revenue each year. Based on the legacy of the Exxon spill, we know this disaster will have a lasting impact on endangered marine species.

WhatÂ’s clear from the tragedy in the Aleutians, is that AlaskaÂ’s shipping routes need stronger regulations in place. The Selendang Ayu was traveling one of the worldÂ’s most heavily trafficked routes Â– and ran aground in an area so remote that it was nearly impossible to rescue human victims in a timely manner and limit damage to threatened marine life.

Call upon Congress to require ships using Alaskan routes to meet minimum safety standards, and operate with well-trained crews and adequate resources to respond quickly to emergencies. Alaskan waters deserve at least these basic protections!

deadline: 1-7-2006
goal: 12,000

17,321
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Dear [Your Congressman],

I am writing to encourage you, as my elected representative, to learn from the circumstances of the recent Selendang Ayu shipping accident in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. We cannot let disastrous oil spills such as this, or those of similar magnitude to the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989, happen again. This tragedy exemplifies that there is a real need to balance human safety and animal health in the Aleutian Islands and the Great Circle Shipping Route. It also shows that we need to exercise extreme caution in opening any refuge areas to human activity as this spill provides a clear example of the consequences.

Protecting Alaska’s coastal waters from devastating oil spills is important because:
[your comment]

A congressional investigation is essential to establishing the measures that need to be put in place to mitigate the negative impact of shipping traffic on Alaska's vital resources. These measures should include requiring ships that use Alaska’s coastal waters to have double hulls or hulls with minimum hull thickness and strength; meet minimum safety standards; provide sufficient training for crews; and possess adequate financial resources to ensure that teams are fully equipped and able to respond quickly in emergencies.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

We signed the “Help Prevent Oil Spills In Alaska’s Coastal Waters!” petition!

# 17,150:

8:07 am PST, Mar 26, Lila Sheehan, Missouri

# 17,149:

7:04 pm PST, Mar 24, Thomas Dorsey, Massachusetts

# 17,148:

3:17 pm PST, Mar 24, Amy Knight, Pennsylvania

# 17,147:

9:44 am PST, Mar 24, Edward Cook, Arizona

# 17,146:

2:01 am PST, Mar 24, Steve Klein, Canada

# 17,145:

11:50 pm PST, Mar 22, Myla Aguilar, Texas
The oceans delicate ecosystem is being ruined. Please impose stiffer regulations for ships and help protect out enviroment!

# 17,144:

8:36 pm PST, Mar 20, Kim Robinson, North Carolina

# 17,143:

2:24 am PST, Mar 18, Nancy Ueberroth, Pennsylvania

# 17,142:

12:47 pm PST, Mar 17, Name not displayed, Ohio

# 17,141:

10:04 am PST, Mar 16, Chetna Pittea, United Kingdom

# 17,140:

4:08 pm PST, Mar 15, Kenneth Kijewski, Montana

# 17,139:

1:51 am PST, Mar 15, Tracy Slager, Indiana

# 17,138:

8:31 pm PST, Mar 11, Susan Degnan, New York

# 17,137:

11:23 pm PST, Mar 10, Michael Katz, Illinois

# 17,136:

6:22 pm PST, Mar 10, Nicole Rae, Georgia

# 17,135:

2:32 pm PST, Mar 10, Holly Henderson, Massachusetts

# 17,134:

5:35 pm PST, Mar 8, Nikolai Dragnes, Norway

# 17,133:

4:53 pm PST, Mar 8, Brian & Rita Cohen, California

# 17,132:

6:19 pm PST, Mar 7, Cher Johnson, Minnesota

# 17,131:

1:54 am PST, Mar 6, Emily Meadow, United Kingdom

# 17,130:

9:04 pm PST, Mar 3, Sarah Bell, Arkansas

# 17,129:

10:55 am PST, Mar 3, Stephanie Lessard, New Hampshire

# 17,128:

2:31 am PST, Mar 2, Carol DeYoung, Kentucky

# 17,127:

5:28 pm PST, Mar 1, Lori Levise, Utah

# 17,126:

2:59 pm PST, Mar 1, Michael Mitsuda, California

# 17,125:

12:49 am PST, Feb 27, Jen Stewart, Canada

# 17,124:

9:29 pm PST, Feb 24, Lyn Gottschalk, Wisconsin

# 17,123:

7:51 pm PST, Feb 24, Michael K. Sullivan, California

# 17,122:

2:14 pm PST, Feb 24, Keith McMahen, Florida

# 17,121:

1:56 pm PST, Feb 24, Laura Helfman, Tennessee

# 17,120:

12:19 pm PST, Feb 24, Name not displayed, Louisiana

# 17,119:

1:28 pm PST, Feb 23, Ellen Creason, Missouri

# 17,118:

10:42 am PST, Feb 21, A Faria, Washington

# 17,117:

7:44 am PST, Feb 21, Grace Takelal, Pennsylvania
It affects everyone and the world.Keep it safe ,Demand that it is safe ,There should never be accidents if everyone were doing what they were suppose to do. There`s no excuse.

# 17,116:

8:39 am PST, Feb 20, Alexandra Hsieh, Singapore

# 17,115:

2:32 pm PST, Feb 19, Lizzzie Lieferink, Canada

# 17,114:

1:30 pm PST, Feb 19, Mari Favero, Illinois

# 17,113:

12:28 pm PST, Feb 19, Joshua Holden, Indiana

# 17,112:

3:58 pm PST, Feb 18, Denise Gunn, United Kingdom

# 17,111:

7:34 pm PST, Feb 17, Catherine Methot, Canada

# 17,110:

2:18 pm PST, Feb 17, Name not displayed, United Kingdom

# 17,109:

4:37 pm PST, Feb 16, Greg Mattics, Arkansas

# 17,108:

3:19 pm PST, Feb 16, Name not displayed, Florida

# 17,107:

9:46 am PST, Feb 16, William Edgington, California

# 17,106:

6:54 pm PST, Feb 15, Paul Girardin, Canada

# 17,105:

2:35 pm PST, Feb 14, Nancy Turi, New Jersey
protect our waters, we are losing so much by these senseless oil spills. make oil companies accountable!!! they make enough $$ off us to clean up their oil spills!!!

# 17,104:

8:28 pm PST, Feb 13, Ruth Jamieson, Canada

# 17,103:

8:50 pm PST, Feb 12, David Marcy, Oregon

# 17,102:

9:49 am PST, Feb 10, Mercede Peterson, Minnesota

# 17,101:

5:33 am PST, Feb 10, Jurgis Stirblys, Lithuania

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Help Prevent Oil Spills In Alaska’s Coastal Waters!

This petition has been closed.