Historic Films Stock Footage Archive: NT-3165

00:00:11 0.39	Color Bars
00:01:51 100.66	Title Slate: The Eleventh Hour #165, EXXON, Rec: 4/17/89
00:02:01 110.27	Blank
00:02:10 119.92	Man in orange wet suit carrying large dead fish in one hand and dead bird in the other walking on rocky coastline.
00:02:14 123.41	wide shot New York Statue of Liberty - pan out, cars parked on bridge
00:02:17 126.45	Ship parked in New York Harbor
00:02:20 129.8	Bird flying over ocean
00:02:24 134.14	Var talking heads speaking with unseen unknown interviewer about the constant threats of an oil spill in New York Harbor.
00:02:41 150.63	Funding for the show by announcer and overlay The Eleventh Hour graphic.
00:02:53 162.6	The Eleventh Hour graphic and show opener
00:03:15 184.56	Host Robert Lipsyte in the studio at his desk welcomes viewers to the show and introduces himself.
00:03:48 217.35	Host Lipsyte talks about the topic for tonight's program. The tragedy of the oil spill in Valdez, Alaska and the question of if the same type of accident happen in New York Harbor?
00:03:59 229.03	Lipsyte cuts to a report about the New York shoreline.
00:04:07 236.23	POV moving boat New York harbor - BIG large red sign reads "SLOW NO WAKE"
00:04:08 237.89	Large vessel docked in New York harbor
00:04:09 238.84	Pan New York City skyline and harbor from possible a boat in the harbor
00:04:13 242.37	Close up pan showing a crowded area in the harbor with large moored tankers and ships - a smaller tug in the middle.
00:04:18 247.64	map rendering of New York harbor area depicting a dotted line to Perth Amboy area, and Staten Island connected to Brooklyn by Verazano Narrows Bridge - dotted line path in between.
00:04:25 254.47	Another map with a hypothetical rendering of what it would look like if two oil tankers collided in between Staten Island and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.
00:04:29 258.23	Waves breaking along a rocky coast
00:04:29 258.89	Seagulls flying high in the sky
00:04:33 262.87	Close up seagrass blowing over a salt marsh in the wind.
00:04:39 268.81	Dery Bennett, American Littoral Society talking with unseen unknown interviewer along the New York harbor coastline about the potential tragic effects should there be an oil spill that gets into a salt marsh. He states that when and if it happens New York will not be prepared for it.
00:04:57 286.91	Ed Wirkowski, Oil Industry Representative talking with unknown and unseen interviewer in New York Harbor about the amounts of equipment they have available should there be a spill.
00:05:21 310.81	Clean Harbor tug boat moving slowly through New York Harbor as Robert Lipsyte narrates about the oil industry and the size of the spill in Alaska.
00:05:35 324.67	Wide shot of the "Clean Harbor" tug from the front
00:05:39 328.79	Clean Harbors tug sailing past the huge oil tanks in New York Harbor
00:05:45 335.13	A small Clean Harbors tug as it passes by a very large tanker ship - great contrast between the size of the tug vs tanker.
00:05:52 341.6	Dery Bennett speaking about the oil industry's plan in case of an oil spill in New York Harbor - he is convinced the plan will only work in part with most of the oil escaping and getting into the eco system
00:06:06 356.06	On the contrary, the oil industry "expert" Ed Wirkowski, talks about a smaller spill that travels at a slower pace and their preparedness for it.
00:06:12 361.41	wide shots and pan of the oil tanks and equipment along the New York Harbor
00:06:19 368.62	Large ship with Verazzano Narrows Bridge in bkgd.
00:06:22 371.42	Pan along the side wall of a huge oil tanker
00:06:30 379.47	Commander Richard Softye from the U.S. Coast Guard talks with unseen unknown interviewer about the unrealistic idea of a major spill from a ship, the more likely scenario would be a collision between ships.
00:06:48 398.06	A U.S. Coast Guard boat chugging through New York Harbor waters.
00:06:57 406.35	Pan out from New York Harbor coastline, seagull flying overhead, NY skyline in bkgd.
00:07:00 409.97	bottom side view of a large orange vessel moored with huge chain. Other ships can be seen in bkgd.
00:07:09 418.65	Large oil tanks dotted along the New York Harbor
00:07:17 426.76	Commander Softye talks about coverage concerns should there be more collisions or happenings.
00:07:27 436.97	Dery Bennet talking about the gamble with toxic materials that could possibly get loose and hurt us.
00:07:38 447.79	The Eleventh Hour graphic.
00:07:47 457.03	Back in the studio with Host Lipsyte - he introduces and then cuts to next segment - interviews with dock workers who watch for spills in Woodridge, New Jersey from the Oil Chemical and Atomic Workers Union.
00:07:57 466.43	An oil barge and small tug boat on a foggy day in New Jersey, three men in foreground talking amongst themselves
00:08:10 480.02	INTERVIEW: Robert Lipsyte Should we be scared? Bob Beck That's a good question. This is like a main corridor for pollution I mean we have all the chemical plants all the oil companies okay and they they do respond okay but to spend a little extra money to make it to make it sure they won't do that unless there's a law Robert Lipsyte they say they can get to spill in one hour Do you think they can Bob Beck no no never happened? Well it's hard for me to conceive when the company that they have to do this has no employees everybody else they depend on is a subcontractor and they're not telling you what if there's two major spills in harbor at the same time what happens then Ray Cerretto we seriously doubt that they can get really this stuff in the water and and around a spill in an hour. Bob Beck Their stuff is in trailers no tractors under the trailers just box trailers and such so they've got to call somebody in now he's got to hook up that trailer Hope it starts backs it up because I don't know who checks it if they have no employees but still you're talking better it's got to be almost a two hour response time it's got to be there's no way they could physically do it. Robert Lipsyte Well how much more damage is going to happen in two hours Bob Beck The oil won't be there anymore. It just won't be there. Robert Lipsyte Oil moves that fast Bob Beck Yes sir. It'll go with the title it travels right on top of the water if you were to throw a piece of paper in it and just watch it go Robert Lipsyte Well what's behind all this is big oil just trying to cut corners and save money. Bob Beck Well, it's a gamble. You're gambling nothing happens and if it does, then they'll pay the price. Robert Lipsyte Are there little spills all the time. Bob Beck Yeah, there's a lot of little spill. It's got to be reported to the Coast Guard. But that's and then that's doubtful whether the Coast Guard come up because they've been cut back so much. We used to see him on a weekly basis. Okay, make inspections at a barges facility to tankers. Now, you don't see him for months on end. You never seen them. Robert Lipsyte Aren't they supposed to be the cops here. Bob Beck They're in charge of the terminals and the barges and the ships. They actually board them. Check the credentials of the people on board to make sure that they are capable of handling the job that they're doing. Robert Lipsyte And without the Coast Guard in place, are people flouting the law? Bob Beck Are they? Most probably it's just like anything else, but there's no cops around you speed. Robert Lipsyte Let me ask you this after Exxon Valdez, do you think people's consciousness will be raised? Do you think they're not going to accept what the oil companies say anymore? Well, I doubt I think so. But do you think that Exxon Valdez could turn out to be a good thing? Bob Beck Yes. I do believe that. I do believe that, yes. Robert Lipsyte In what way, particularly? Bob Beck to make them people aware of what can happen. I mean, you you see all these tanks, but you really don't know what's in them or you ignore them until something happens and then you can't ignore it.
00:11:01 651.15	The Eleventh Hour Graphic
00:11:08 657.68	Back in the studio, Host Robert Lipsyte introduces and welcomes three guests joining him, Nita Loewe, 25th District Westchester on the House Committee Merchant Marine and Fisheries; Robert North, US Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New York and New Jersey; and Michael Vickerman, Conservation Chair of New York Sierra Club.
00:11:35 685.08	INTERVIEW Robert Lipsyte: We've seen a lot of birds over the years with with oil on their backs. But we have the sense that this time around, we could be the sitting ducks here in New York Harbor. Oh, what's government going to do about it in light of what's happened up in Alaska? Nita Lowey I'm particularly concerned about who's driving those tankers. During the hearing. It came out in fact, it was my question that Captain Hazelwood had been denied a driving license in New York three times he had been without a driving license since November. And yet he was given the responsibility of driving this 60 million gallon tanker. I think what we really have to focus on is our licensing requirements at the present time. You have to get your license renewed every five years. This all happened to him within the last four years Robert Lipsyte As important as this is and I think it's very important. I'm I'm a little leery of this idea of saying it's human error and blaming it on one drunken captain, because it seems like there's a system that's not in place. It seems to me that well, for example, Captain north from things that we've heard, you guys are not getting as much money as you need and you've had a cut back on your effectiveness and not do the job that you want to do. Is that true? Robert North Well, in 1988, we had a budget reduction and they at nine we've received the budget that we asked for in 1990. Looks hopeful as well. So the cutbacks that we initiated in terms of active patrols in 88, we've re instituted Robert Lipsyte but what about those dockworkers in Woodbridge New Jersey who don't see your guys so much anymore? When the cops aren't around you speed Robert North My people or their conduct harbor patrols as we have in the past we inspect facilities we board the vessels as they point Robert Lipsyte so we have nothing to worry about New York Harbor Robert North we always have a risk certainly we have a number of prevention programs that we exercise to minimize that risk which includes inspection of the vessels the facilities harbor patrols to find all spills when they occur Robert Lipsyte And the radar was cut back I mean, you don't have the radar that you used to have Robert North The vessel traffic service was reduced to the point that I have one radar that monitors upper bay averages but it does not provide information to traffic. Robert Lipsyte Is that something that you need. Robert North It's helpful Robert Lipsyte does it increase the risk? Robert North If you had better coverage, the harbor and traffic information to provide the mariners it may decrease the risk Robert Lipsyte Because what's what scares me is this this this channel is really the New Jersey Turnpike of ships. And I know that when I drive on the New Jersey Turnpike, if I don't see you know, cops around, like everybody else, I'll go a little faster. Do you think that the Coast Guard needs more money? Nita Lowey Oh, absolutely. And the real problem that we have in Washington and I'm on the Coast Guard subcommittee of merchant marine and fisheries committee, so we're going to be fighting for you. The real problem here is that there's a budget deficit and everyone's fighting for the same piece of the pie. Of course, they need more money. If we're concerned about safety. We have to give the Coast Guard the tools that they need to carry out their responsibilities, Robert Lipsyte well, you need more money, you've got to give them more money. Do you think that's going to be enough? Michael Vickerman Absolutely not. That just that just, I think is in some ways window dressing, the long range solution to this would be to begin a program of cutting back fossil fuel consumption, especially that which requires tanker traffic. Particularly in New York City. There is no reason why buses for example, can't run on alternative energies. There's no reason why we can't beef up insulation in cities buildings, so as to cut back on the amount of barrels that need to be pumped out of the ground Robert Lipsyte That's long range and one would hope that would happen in Valdez would wake people up to these kinds of needs. But on the short range, we're still thinking about something happening under the verrazzano bridge with two tankers colliding or some sort of disaster. I was a little concerned about your young officer saying we'd take a missile. So how does it feel you might even take less than that. But I mean, what would happen in terms of what would happen in this Harbor, the Staten Island Ferry wouldn't run all the produce wouldn't come in, it would really blight our lives? Nita Lowey Well, this is why I'm so concerned about licensing requirements. Because you can have coast guard in place, you can have adequate funds, so you're doing what you're supposed to do. And that human error, the person who's driving that tanker can cause a major problem with all the Coast Guard in place. Robert Lipsyte Yeah well, we'll come back to that because maybe blaming it on one drunken captain and maybe just blame it on Exxon might again, not be spreading out the blame, where it appears I'd like to stop for just a moment neither Exxon, nor the American Petroleum Institute would send a representative to answer questions here, but the institute issued this press release.
00:16:29 978.95	Host Lipsyte interrupts interview to read a press release from the Institute. Press release scrolls over backdrop of a lone barge in the middle of large body of water with snow capped mountains in bkgd as Lipsyte reads.
00:17:17 1026.31	INTERVIEW CONTINUES: Nita Lowey Well, it's just part of the problem. Clearly, we have to get everything in place. The oil companies have to be doing their job, we have to get enough money. And every aspect of this problem has to be looked at Robert Lipsyte part of their doing their job, do you think is paying the bills for this? Because it looks as though we're going to be paying for some of this? Nita Lowey There's no question. In fact, Mr. Rawl of Exxon testified before my committee, and he's committed to us loud and clear that they're going to take responsibility for all the damages. The real question is, and we're a little concerned when all the Harvard and Yale and all the lawyers get involved is what is the extent of the damages. There have been fishermen who've lost their livelihood? How far do the damages extend? And this is something that I fear is going to go on for a long, long time. And I would hope they would continue to say loud and clear that they're going to take care of all the damages. Robert Lipsyte How far do you see these damages reaching Michael? Michael Vickerman Well, in terms of loss of wildlife, in terms of loss of livelihood, one, I think, instructive example would be what happened with the the Amoco Cadiz off of the coast of Brittany and 10 years after the spill took place in 1978. The shellfish and the other estuary and marine life still hasn't returned to their pre spill levels. It takes an awfully long time for an ecosystem to bounce back from something that permeates every step every stage of the food chain as does crude oil. Robert Lipsyte Captain North you know, the Coast Guard always kind of gets you know pointed at for not monitoring this or not monitoring that which doesn't always seem to be fair, you've got a lot of water to cover. I'm most concerned of here in New York Harbor, the guy who said in our tape PCA in an hour, we could respond to this spill. Well if you use the telephones lately, I mean he's gonna be making calls to get his crews together. They're not even full time worker Robert North All the facilities throughout the Arthur kill and kill van kull area, which is where they're predominantly located here, as that he mentioned, have cleanup equipment, containment cleanup gear at the site that they can deploy in less than an hour. What he was talking about was the clean harbors cooperative, which is a collection of larger quantities of equipment located in strategic areas throughout the Arthur kill. The oil companies provide much of the manpower to support that operation in addition to the commercial cleanup contractor that's employed by clean harbors. Robert Lipsyte Well, what would happen though, I mean, in terms of specifically that hypothetical, you know, your young lieutenant saying you know, just need a missile, but what would happen that that collision that thing that would never happen, the Titanic will never go down the Valdez. Robert North Instantaneous spill of a large quantity of oil is going to move. As they said, one can get out and deploy equipment try to contain it. In reality, once you have a large spill into an open water area, even if you were able to contain it, there are some conditions whether that will make make it very difficult to contain and clean up. Another strategy Robert Lipsyte You're talking about wind, rain, Robert North wind and current primarily Robert Lipsyte It has to be a really nice day in order for everything to run right. Robert North Correct Another strategy is to protect the sensitive areas and also to go downwind or down current of the oil and try to collect it as it moves. You can deploy skimmers in the open water area, if you can get boom to collect the oil and try to skim it. You can also trap the oil once it goes toward the shoreline and create calm areas where you can try to
00:20:56 1245.62	INTERVIEW CONTINUES Robert Lipsyte But I mean even even the containment operation would disrupt for a day, two days, whatever it was, the the movement, the traffic, the shipping, and the harbor Robert North Anywhere the spill occurred we would have to read probably control traffic to minimize the amount of wake effect on the oil to make it easier to control Robert Lipsyte because I'm thinking about how it would affect our lives. I mean, up in Valdez with all due respect to the Sierra Club, we're talking about birds and wildlife. Let's talk about exactly you know what what happened to human beings. Here in the New York Harbor. In terms of ships coming in produce Robert North traffic would probably be slowed down in the event of a large spill, or even a medium sized spill as we define those sizes of spills. And it would have some some impact on the movement of vessels. Certainly impacting the movement of recreational boats. It may impact beaches, it may impact marinas, depending on how able you're able to have while you're able to Robert Lipsyte Forget about summer in the Hamptons. Robert North Well I would say that it would depend upon where the oil was spilled, what the current wind was at the time, how quickly we're able to get out there and deploy equipment. Robert Lipsyte Now, Mike, let's get back there is also a delicate natural eco system here in the harbor. There are animals and birds that would be affected by this wouldn't there. Michael Vickerman Quite, quite many as a matter of fact, especially if the winds were coming out of the Southwest. I think you could kiss a lot of the shellfish industry goodbye for 10 maybe 15 years in between the piers on Manhattan, a place that we do not normally associate with teeming wildlife. There are a lot of there's habitat there that support oceangoing species such as striped bass, winter flounder, and they then go out into the ocean, and probably comprise 25 to 50% of the catch off the coast of from New England all the way down to North Carolina Robert Lipsyte between the natural disaster and what would happen to people. In a sense the ball is in your court representative Lowey, because you know, even beyond and I know that you want to press ahead with licensing of captains, but there are other possibilities. I mean, even somebody, even somebody cold stone sober and following the guidelines, Captain north, things can happen, right? Robert North Surely machinery failure, various various things could happen. There's, there's a risk here. Nita Lowey Well there's risk. But I think it all boils down to doesn't it the human element, according to my statistics have been responsible for about 28% of the spills that are currently taking place in New York Harbor and their spills every day. As we know, there have been about 194 spills if I'm not correct in the past year. But what's important to know is that these spills in New York Harbor have released less than 200,000 gallons of oil. So they're very different. There's another aspect of this that's important and its impact on New York Harbor. And that's the economic development aspect. In addition to the wildlife, which is critical, and the preservation of our beaches and our resources during the pollution crisis last summer, we heard from Suffolk Nassau businesses and Westchester County businesses about the millions of dollars of loss. The lobsters were coming up dead. Can you imagine if we add oil to it, and I hear from retail and wholesale fisheries that their prices have gone down? More than 20% because people are so concerned of pollution if we add oil to this we're going to be in real trouble. Robert Lipsyte Representative Lowey. This is an unfair question because you haven't been in Congress long enough to point a finger but just do you have a sense that you know that a lot of things haven't gotten done just because the oil lobby is so powerful in Washington. Nita Lowey I don't know I think it's too early for me to make that judgment. I've been reaching out to the environmentalist clearly because in fact they reach out to me and as do the oil suppliers. They certainly reach out to me and it's really hard for me to say we're trying to look at all aspects of it. We need the oil, we don't want to be dependent on foreign oil. On the other hand, we have to serve our wildlife. And we have to preserve our pristine environment. And there has to be a balance. And this is why I'm encouraging the investing in alternate sources of energy such as ethanol, for example, which can be made from cheese way, we've got to look for alternate sources of energy conservation was mentioned before in the late 70s.
00:25:31 1520.98	INTERVIEW CONTINUES Robert Lipsyte Again, that's that's long term. And while you know we want, we don't want to just short term reaction, we do want to have the feeling that somebody is in charge here, big oil has shown that it's not in charge. The Coast Guard has been having some problems because there's cut back the government who is in charge who is going to take charge of this now? Nita Lowey Well I think every purson, every branch that you mentioned, has to do its part, the Coast Guard is going to look and see well, how did this happen? I hate to go back to the licensing. I don't like that issue. Maybe they're going to have to redo their licensing procedures. So it's not every five years. The oil companies have to say, Hey, who was driving that tanker? Look at our equipment. Maybe we're not as ready as we thought we were and government has to be sure that all this is enforced. So we're protecting the people in our environment, I think each part has to do its part Robert North I agree with the representative Lowey and that certainly with the legislation that's presently in effect, and the regulations promulgated under the various laws that were tasked to enforce, have a large number of people out in the harbor enforcing those laws, looking at vessels prior to arrival or upon arrival, looking at the facilities, and monitoring transfers between vessels and facilities. I think some of the statistics, she quoted about less than 200,000 gallons of oil, and one considers that there's some 18 billion gallons of oil move through the port in New York or in the Port of New York over a year. And some 170,000 gallons of it found its way into the water through a large number of small spills. We've done very well and enforcement in the sense of trying to minimize the routine operations that have caused a lot of oil in the water in the past Robert Lipsyte we're not even talking about liquid nitrogen gas and some of the other things are more exciting. We're almost out of time. One quick question. Should I cut up my Exxon card? Nita Lowey You're looking at me? Robert Lipsyte Yeah, what do you think that boycott is effective? Do you think that's a way to give a message to the Nita Lowey Oh, I haven't looked at all aspects of it. But my initial reaction is why Exxon it could have happened to mobil. It could have happened to anyone Robert Lipsyte It could have happened to anyone Michael do you feel that same way? Michael Vickerman It's not the company itself. It's our amp speaking about the entire nation. It's our addiction to black gold oil, if we can somehow curb our excessive consumption, which means not spending as much in mobile stations or arco or Chevron and to put into place after eight years of dismantling Robert Lipsyte I have to stop you there. Michael, thank you very much. Representative Lowey Captain north. Thank you very much for being with us. This is the 11th hour. I'm Robert Lipsyte.
00:28:20 1689.69	Interview concludes. Host Lipsyte announces show and introduces himself. Show end.
00:28:27 1696.7	Credits over show graphics.
00:28:52 1721.83	Funding for the show by announcer and overlay the Eleventh Hour graphic,.
00:28:57 1726.66	Reel end.