The clean-up efforts of the disaster itself was also a comedy of errors. Chemical dispersants, designed to break up the spill, was dropped onto the wrong location. While the workers themselves would go on to develop severe health problems over the coming years from the chemicals used. While booms and skimmers were deployed to contain the spill, they proved unsuitable for the task with thick oil and kelp clogging the equipment. The majority of the clean-up operation itself was delayed. Which led to missing the opportunity presented by the good weather, and close to impossible when bad weather set in. High pressure water jets were used to clean the oil from the rock and shoreline. This did prove effective in removing the oil. But unfortunately this also wiped out organisms such as plankton as well, which is the base of the food chain. In fact, areas left untouched (for the purpose of scientific research) recovered quicker. In total as many as 250,000 seabirds were killed in the disaster. Together with 2,800 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbour seals, 247 bald eagles, 22 orcas and an unknown number of salmon and herring.
Lessons learnt
A crisis creates an information vacuum. People immediately want to know more about the event. What happened? What risks will it create? Why did it happen? Who was involved? What can be done about it? If the organisation fails to provide answers, others will. And will allow others to define and control the situation.
People don’t just react to the event itself, but to the reasons behind it. If anything, the perceived causes can have more significance than the physical event itself. Because it’s the explanations that defines and characterises the situation, assigns blame and responsibility. And defines the character and motives of the people and companies involved. For example, the same event could be characterised as an accident? Sabotage? Negligence or incompetence? A terrorist attack? Mass murder or an act of potential self-sacrifice, depending on how the story was told.
But most importantly – prepare for disaster. Figure out every potential threat. How likely is it to occur, and what impact could it have? What are the warning signs? Is it preventable and how? Have a simple action plan and a well-trained team in place, and conduct regular exercises. But most importantly, what actions can/should be taken to repair the damage done?