Squamish CAN president Ana Santos is spending the next three weeks studying the impact of one of the most high profile environmental disasters in history - the Exxon Valdez.
Santos was invited to participate in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey in Alaska's Prince William Sound to track and record the lasting effects of the devastating oil spill that took place in 1989.
This dedicated environmentalist intends to return to Squamish and bring the information she gathers to residents, and the timing couldn't better in light of the proposed pipeline off B.C.'s coastline, she said.
"This is what we could be facing ourselves if the pipeline [Enbridge] is approved," said Santos.
"I'm very excited particularly to have the opportunity to bring the information home because it is such an important time for us really. At least this way we can get the awareness out here and bring the story from people who have lived it."
On March 24, 1989 the Exxon Valdez, which had just been loaded with oil from the Alaska pipeline, struck Bligh Reef and spilled 10.8 to 32 million U.S. gallons of crude oil.
The only person charged was the ship's captain, Joe Hazelwood, who was accused of three felonies, criminal mischief, operating the ship while intoxicated, and reckless endangerment, and a misdemeanor, negligently discharging oil.
After a two-month trial, an Anchorage jury convicted him only on the misdemeanor. Hazelwood served his sentence of 1,000 hours of community service and $50,000 in restitution - picking up trash along Anchorage roadsides.
More than 21 years later, the effects are still being felt.
Santos will be talking to biologists, government officials, fishermen and locals about how the spill dramatically changed their lives.
"I want to see what they think, how they feel and what the spill has meant for them, how it has changed them, the area and who they are," she said.
Santos was a volunteer on a similar expedition in March and July 2007, and said she didn't expect the extent of the spill's lingering effects.
"I was surprised to find we were still digging in places and the oil was still there - and not just a little bit of residue - we were digging and taking samples. We compared the water we found to clean water and it was almost black."
Santos said the area "isn't a dead zone anymore, but it's nowhere near where it was before the spill."
"The whales are coming back and so are some fish species," she said. "Sea otters and harlequin ducks are the species that were most impacted. Whereas they used to have thousands and thousands of sea otters there may be none nowadays or they might be just started coming back."
The nine-person survey team she will be joining consists of six volunteers and three U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials. They will be working from three survey bases: Whittier, Chenega Village on Evans Island and Cordova.
Santos plans to host two presentations when she returns, likely with Norm Hann, who recently completed a 385-kilometre standing paddleboard journey along the B.C. Coastline to highlight the unique and sensitive environment along the proposed Enbridge oil tanker route.
