Job-Seekers Strain Valdez to Limit; Arrests Up 500%

The hopeful, the desperate, the adventurers have come in hordes, swamping this tiny community on the shores of Prince William Sound.

Weary-looking women and men with work-scarred hands loiter near job agencies, waiting for the miracle--a $16.67-an-hour, back-breaking job sopping up the nation’s worst oil spill.

In a few weeks they have doubled the population of this town--and still they come.

“It’s not often you can go out and make good money,” says Patty West, a homesteader from near Tok. She has been living in an old van covered by a plastic tarp to keep out the rain. “There are just so many people, you have to wait your turn.”

City officials and others wonder how long the city can handle the crush.

7,000 People and Climbing

Before the Exxon Valdez rammed Bligh Reef on March 24 and dumped about 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sound, Valdez counted approximately 3,500 residents. Now, the number is about 7,000 and climbing daily.

The impact is severe.

Businesses cannot find or keep help as workers seek better-paying Exxon jobs. Hotels are jammed, additional housing is non-existent and parks are being cleared of snow to open early for camping.

Garbage collections have doubled. Water consumption has increased by 1 million gallons a day as scores of cleanup vessels tap the city supply. “It’s going to get worse,” says Public Works Director Lee Schlitz.

Police Work Overtime

Arrests last month jumped by 500% over April, 1988, and police are working overtime, says Joe Michaud, the city’s chief of emergency services.

“We’re running them ragged. We had $25,000 (budgeted) for overtime for the year. We used that up the first week,” he says. “Our bar fights, domestic disturbances, street fights, they’re way up.” Arrests for drunk driving have quadrupled over the same period last year.

Ambulance calls have increased 100%, and the statistics, instead of improving, are getting a little worse each week, Michaud says.

The impact also has been felt at Valdez Community Hospital, where emergency room activity has increased at least 100%, says administrator Joy Keating.

She says she has lost her two lab technicians because of the spill and cannot find replacements. One quit to work with oiled otters; the other was dissatisfied with post-spill Valdez, she says.

Much Disenchantment

“A lot of people just don’t like this town anymore,” Keating says.

At the city’s bustling waterfront, harbor officials can barely keep up.

“General confusion is the best way to put it,” says Harbor Master Tim Lopez. The spill has increased harbor use by cleanup vessels, support boats and floatplanes, he says.

“It’s going to get a lot worse than this,” Lopez says. “The recreational fleet hasn’t even put into the water yet. And the commercial fleet will be coming.”

Budget Feels Pinch

Mayor John Devens says Valdez has started to feel the effect on its $32-million annual budget, but he says there are other problems.

“I think people are getting uncomfortable,” he says. “The quality of life is certainly not as good as in normal times.”

The spill “is not good for tourism, not good for fishing, not good for our port. We have not gotten much sympathy from Exxon,” he says.