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Alaska island residents support oil spill cleanup efforts

 


Alaska island residents support oil spill cleanup efforts
 
Dec. 16, 2004  

A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*

A UMNS photo by Ken Wilson

The freighter Selendang Ayu floats in two pieces in Makushin Bay, Unalaska Island.

United Methodists and others living in the land known as the “birthplace of the storms” are working to stave off the environmental impact of an oil spill in Alaska.

A freighter ran aground Dec. 8, spilling oil onto the shores of Unalaska Island. Unalaska is in the Aleutian Islands, about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. The military and federal and state agencies are involved in the cleanup efforts, which include fighting an oil slick.

The Malaysian cargo ship Selendang Ayu was transporting soybeans when it lost power in turbulent weather. The ship came apart on the northern shore of the island, near fisheries and a sea lion habitat. Officials had feared that up to 140,000 gallons of heavy fuel had leaked out of the ship, but that estimate was lowered to 40,000 gallons as of Dec. 14. Though the disaster was not as extensive as first thought, it still threatens wildlife.

Also involved in cleanup and support efforts are the 54 members of Unalaska United Methodist Church, the only United Methodist church on the island of 4,087 people. The church began on the island in the Bering Sea in 1880, when Methodists opened a school, clinic and the Jesse Lee Home for orphans. The island is part of the Alaska Missionary Conference of the United Methodist Church and is recognized both as a regional transportation hub and an international trade center.

“This oil spill will impact our shoreline,” said the Rev. Kathy Wilson, pastor of the Unalaska congregation and the volunteer chaplain to the local U.S. Coast Guard unit. Wildlife experts are examining the coastline to assess the damage to marine life, she said.

The slick is believed to have killed at least seven birds and other animals, including a sea otter. Wilson said two birds were sent to Anchorage for treatment.

Map by UMNS

“This tragedy is very sad both in loss of human life and in the impact to God’s creation because it is pristine and beautiful here,” she said. “This type of thing is unsettling to the people. The ministry that we have been able to do involves not only the people involved in the tragedy, but the people on the island as well.” 

Unalaska’s population is 7 percent Native Aleut, 13 percent Hispanic, 19 percent Asian/Pacific Islander and 61 percent Caucasian.

After the freighter stranded, six crewmembers were lost when a Coast Guard helicopter crashed after lifting them off the vessel Dec. 8. They are presumed dead. Four other people were rescued, including the three helicopter crewmembers.

“I was able to have time with four of the U.S. Coast Guardsmen who survived,” Wilson said. Her position as chaplain is to “respond to what the Coast Guard needs and help in any way that I can,” she explained.

The Unalaska church will continue to help feed the Coast Guardsmen and others involved in the cleanup. The church also will participate in a Christmas Day meal with community leaders for area residents and others who are on the island responding to the disaster.

“Our role here has been very important,” Wilson said. “It has been an honor and a blessing to be here and respond in any way that we can as the United Methodist Church.”

A UMNS photo by Ken Wilson

The Rev. Kathy Wilson

According to Wilson, a member of the congregation, concerned about the welfare of the freighter’s crew, spearheaded a campaign that netted clothing, shoes and calling cards to enable the crewmembers to call home. “The ship broke in half, and they were left with nothing,” Wilson said.

The congregation also used its Dec. 12 Christmas Cantata to honor both the survivors and the dead. Some of the freighter’s crewmembers attended the service, Wilson said. 

Numerous people and agencies are involved in the cleanup and trying to secure the freighter, but they have been hampered by the weather. “The weather out here is so vicious,” Wilson said. “We are called the birthplace of the storms.”  

High winds and waves complicated damage assessment. A salvage team was finally able to board the freighter Dec. 14.

According to an Agence France-Presse report, the Alaska spill was “potentially the worst to hit Alaska since the tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Prince William Bay in 1989, sending more than 40 million liters (10.4 million gallons) of oil into the ocean.” 

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.


 

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