Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill »

A commercial salmon "fisherma'am," Dr. Riki Ott (PhD in marine biology) experienced firsthand the devastating effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and chose to do something about it. Ott retired from fishing and founded three nonprofit organizations to deal with lingering harm. Her previous book on the spill is Sound Truth and Corporate Myths. She lives in Cordova, Alaska.

In the early 1970s, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens promised Cordova fishermen "not one drop" of oil would be spilled in Prince William Sound from proposed tanker traffic and the trans-Alaska pipeline project. Fishermen knew better. Spanning nearly 40 years, Not One Drop is an extraordinary tale of ordinary people who take on the world's richest oil companies and most powerful politicians to protect Prince William Sound from oil accidents.

Author Riki Ott, a rare combination of commercial salmon "fisherma'am" and PhD marine biologist, describes the firsthand impact of this broken promise when the Exxon Valdez oil spill decimated Cordova, Alaska, a small commercial fishing community set in 38,000 square miles of rugged Alaska wilderness.

Ott illustrates in stirring fashion the oil industry's 20-year trail of pollution and deception that lead to the tragic 1989 spill and delves deep into the disruption to the fishing community for the next 10 years. In vivid detail, she describes the human trauma coupled inextricably with that of the Sound's wildlife and its struggle to recover.

Contrasting hard-won spill prevention and response measures in the Sound to dangerous conditions on the trans-Alaska pipeline, Ott critically examines shifts in scientific understanding of oil spill effects on communities and ecosystems, exposing fundamental flaws in governance and the legal system. Her varied background, professional training, and activist heart lead readers confidently and clearly through the maze of laws, back-story, and government red tape as large as that of the five billion dollar lawsuit itself, instilling a new-found sense of understanding of this environmental tragedy.

Publishers Weekly

Ott, a former Prince William Sound fisherman and longtime activist around the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill of 1989, pours plenty of passion into this exhaustive account of the financial and psychological toll on the residents of Cordova, the town most affected by the disaster. Her book is a scathing indictment of Exxon's take-no-prisoners legal roadblocks. She enumerates the full horror of the spill's aftermath: the 1989 loss of $50 million in fishery revenue, a botched cleanup effort, the onslaught of oil-company lobbyists and continuing fish habitat degradation. Ott focuses on Cordova's struggle to rebuild a sense of community while coping with personal bankruptcies and failing marriages, and covers the legal skirmishing for compensation for the more than 3,000 fishermen who filed claims, closing with a melancholy coda following the Supreme Court's decision to reduce the original jury award against Exxon from more than $5 billion to about $500 million-"devastating news" for those "whose lives entered a state of turmoil some 19 years ago." Though Ott's narrative is often bogged down with too much detail, she covers an enormous amount of ground with engaging humanity. (Nov.)

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Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xix

Abbreviations xxiii

Part 1 Promises (1986-1989) 1

1 A Place to Stand 3

2 Politics of Oil 17

3 Prelude to Disaster 29

Part 2 Betrayal (1989-1993) 39

4 Taking a Stand 41

5 Virtual Reality 61

6 Tricks of the Trade 80

7 When Right Makes Might 104

8 As Bad as It Gets 119

Part 3 Courage (1994-1999) 141

9 Decisions 143

10 Stepping-stones 162

11 Gaining Ground 179

12 Moving On 196

Part 4 New Beginnings (2000-2008) 211

13 Leaving the Oil Age 213

14 "A New Species of Trouble" 233

15 A New Consciousness 253

Epilogue 267

Timeline 271

Notes 281

Glossary 316

About the Author 318

Index