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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, AlaskaĀ’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 worldĀ’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.

WhatĀ’s clear from the tragedy in the Aleutians, is that AlaskaĀ’s shipping routes need stronger regulations in place. The Selendang Ayu was traveling one of the worldĀ’s most heavily trafficked routes Ā– 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!

# 17,200:

9:22 am PDT, Jun 29, Jonathan Fisch, California

# 17,199:

9:38 pm PDT, Jun 28, Erik Mcdarby, Pennsylvania

# 17,198:

4:53 pm PDT, Jun 27, Brenda Schenk, Washington
It's a no brainer... We Must Protect Our Coastal Waters to keep our world from becoming a garbage dump. We need to be willing & able to see the 'big picture.'

# 17,197:

3:28 pm PDT, Jun 26, Mustang Beam, Montana
Because the "animals" that don't have a voice say so. You are killing them and all for what? Money.

# 17,196:

8:49 pm PDT, Jun 18, Ami Kathleen, Connecticut

# 17,195:

1:11 pm PDT, Jun 17, Anthony Montapert, California

# 17,194:

9:27 am PDT, Jun 8, Jessica Alley, Tennessee

# 17,193:

10:41 am PDT, Jun 5, Fred Blackstone, Georgia

# 17,192:

5:49 pm PDT, Jun 4, Frances Blackstone, Georgia

# 17,191:

1:25 pm PDT, Jun 3, Joseph Fisch, California

# 17,190:

7:10 am PDT, Jun 2, Tahani Montalvan, New Jersey

# 17,189:

9:16 am PDT, May 31, Tonie Yankowski, Wisconsin
We won't get the oil from Alaske until 12 more years and there will only be enough oil for 12 year, if that. It is not worth the risk. Put more effort and money into finding new ways to run cars without oil to also protect our earth as well.

# 17,188:

6:35 am PDT, May 30, Alison Moski, Connecticut

# 17,187:

6:44 pm PDT, May 29, Barry Spielvogel, New York

# 17,186:

10:18 pm PDT, May 26, Sandra Green, Texas

# 17,185:

2:52 am PDT, May 26, Dr. Neilson Ph.D., Florida
i Love Sea-Otters and Cetaceans and care about our oceans.

# 17,184:

6:25 pm PDT, May 25, Angela M., Michigan
The world we live on and all that encompasses it, has allowed humans to flourish for thousands and thousands of years. How can we be so careless in return? We must stop taking advantage of the earth and its precious resources and do everything within our power to protect what we have!

# 17,183:

7:21 am PDT, May 25, Michelle Molesch, Ohio

# 17,182:

2:05 pm PDT, May 18, Dave Steinmetz, Connecticut

# 17,181:

12:46 pm PDT, May 18, Ellen Davis, Kentucky

# 17,180:

12:07 pm PDT, May 17, KARLA GLOOR, Ohio

# 17,179:

2:40 pm PDT, May 13, Nikki Vaughan, Utah

# 17,178:

12:39 pm PDT, May 9, Jon Abbey, Indiana
This world is all we have. We need to do everything we can to protect it.

# 17,177:

1:11 am PDT, May 9, Candy Bowman-LeBlanc, California

# 17,176:

11:36 am PDT, May 8, Kristina Friberg, New Hampshire
More and more species of animals are all ready lost to us. Do we really need to lose more becouse of our own fault?

# 17,175:

12:04 am PDT, May 7, Diana Scherff, California

# 17,174:

10:18 am PDT, May 6, Elizabeth Wolff, Arizona

# 17,173:

12:14 pm PDT, May 4, Name not displayed, Greece

# 17,172:

7:54 am PDT, May 4, Vidya Sims, California

# 17,171:

6:50 pm PDT, May 2, Kristi Katuran, Pennsylvania

# 17,170:

11:11 am PDT, Apr 26, Jack Stevens, California

# 17,169:

10:35 am PDT, Apr 26, Jennifer Rastegar, California

# 17,168:

9:41 pm PDT, Apr 23, Scott Cady, Minnesota

# 17,167:

7:27 pm PDT, Apr 21, Electra Bokanoski, Arizona

# 17,166:

3:10 pm PDT, Apr 21, Lisa Marie Keech, Pennsylvania

# 17,165:

2:40 pm PDT, Apr 19, Jeff Hopkins, Illinois

# 17,164:

8:48 am PDT, Apr 12, Zinta Aistars, Michigan

# 17,163:

12:16 pm PDT, Apr 11, D White, Indiana

# 17,162:

11:56 am PDT, Apr 8, April Livaditis, Georgia

# 17,161:

9:44 am PDT, Apr 8, Calvin Konno, Hawaii

# 17,160:

2:36 pm PDT, Apr 3, Brian Danniels, Canada

# 17,159:

9:10 am PDT, Apr 3, Ray Moseley, California

# 17,158:

4:20 pm PDT, Apr 2, Christina Sott, United Kingdom
I' m getting tired of finding new words in which to dress how horrible all this is! Everyone knows what a disaster it is and it should be acted on it immediately and a solution found ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!

# 17,157:

2:08 pm PDT, Apr 2, Name not displayed, Nevada

# 17,156:

6:34 pm PST, Mar 29, Stacy Desbrow, California

# 17,155:

9:00 am PST, Mar 27, Tina Florell, Sweden

# 17,154:

4:23 pm PST, Mar 26, Christopher Wolf, California

# 17,153:

3:45 pm PST, Mar 26, Ellen Read, Tennessee

# 17,152:

11:53 am PST, Mar 26, Laurie Hoffman, South Dakota
Oil spills claim so much of marine life, and without diverse marine life, us as humans eventually won't exist either.

# 17,151:

9:11 am PST, Mar 26, Nicole Rooney, Minnesota

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Help Prevent Oil Spills In Alaska’s Coastal Waters!

This petition has been closed.