Exxon Valdez expert speaks of bleak future for Gulf

Following years of health issues related to a career in the dry-cleaning business, Walt Parham moved to the coast.

He leads a happy, humble life on disability.

Now he prays he doesn't suffer from any further illness.

Riki Ott, an oil pollution specialist and marine biologist, spoke to a group of roughly 60 fishermen and beach residents Wednesday. She described a gloomy future for Gulf residents.

She talked extensively about her career, her life experiences in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska and her expectations of dragged-out litigation and human suffering in the wake of the latest oil disaster.

Parham was sullen at the end of Ott's presentation.

"Now I'm (facing) all this?" he said. "Damn, it's one thing after another."

Ott said the victims in the Exxon disaster from 21 years ago never received the compensation they were promised from the oil company.

Many of them found themselves making only 10 percent of what they earned prior to the tanker spill, she said.

Ott recalled a meeting with an Exxon spokesman, who said to a roomful of people, "We will make you whole."

Immediately, those in the room were captivated, she said. Their optimism was short-lived.

"He said, 'We will pay for all the reasonable claims' and we believed him," said Ott. "That was a big mistake. We didn't realize reasonable meant 'We'll see you in court.'"

Litigation continued for 20 years.

An oil disaster "tears people apart," Ott said.

In Alaska, there were spikes in domestic violence, divorces and suicides, she said.

She started working on a fishing boat in 1985. By 1993, the fish runs collapsed. Her livelihood was gone, but she said she had "academic training" on which to fall back.

Ott began a new crusade and it hasn't stopped. After news of the BP oil spill, it picked up steam.

She relocated to the Gulf Coast on a mission.

Ott said she's gladly accepted being the voice opposing the oil industry and bringing attention to its perceived lack of accountability.

"The media pulled me out and said, 'You're it,'" she said.

Ott has appeared on MSNBC and the Huffington Post. She has been a regular guest on left-leaning political talk shows.

In the audience was former County Commissioner Diane Rowden, who is running as a Democrat for the Florida House of Representatives District 44 seat.

Absent was the current occupant of that seat, Rep. Rob Schenck, R-Spring Hill, who was in Tallahassee.

His aide, Ryan Anderson, arrived in his place. Neither he nor Schenck was made aware of the Ott visit. He said his office was not notified.

Anderson said he learned about it after a fisherman told him earlier that morning.

He left toward the end of Ott's lecture and said he was disappointed.

"I thought I'd hear more about solutions," he said. He wouldn't comment further.

Ott was invited to speak by Kathryn Birren, a spokeswoman for the local seafood industry.

Birren got emotional when she talked about her 12-year-old son and how it seemed unlikely he would follow in her and her husband's footsteps and become a fisherman.

"There's a huge mess coming in," she said of the spill.

Ott talked about the possible health effects and the pollution that could spread throughout the country in the event of a hurricane.

The only glimmer of hope is that the Gulf is in a warm climate. In Alaska, the oil remained longer because the cold weather preserved it, she said.

Then again, there is more oil in the Gulf than there ever was in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

The likelihood remains of a "complete collapse of the ecosystem," Ott said.