Local
Spring clean fling; Great Island Cleanup, ‘Take 4’ PAGE 8
Island Scene
Editorial
One ‘Wilde’ adventure; ‘Earnest’ in the spotlight
Tragedy can sometimes seem distant, not so when it strikes close to home; here’s how you can help
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Journal
The 75¢ Wednesday, March 26, 2014 Vol. 107 Issue 13
of the San Juan Islands
www.sanjuanjournal.com
Dark memories of Exxon Valdez
On the road again
Islanders reflect on disaster 25 years after spill By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Contributed photo / Jim Sherman
And they’re off… Run Ladies Run annual spring half-marathon and 10K run drew more than 120 runners and walkers, Saturday March 22. Event proceeds will benefit Jessica Oldwyn, to help in her battle against brain cancer.
Drop in property values slow Combined loss totals $3 million, compared to $1.7 billion in 2012 By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
The assessed value of the 18,456 taxable parcels in San Juan County declined by a combined sum of nearly $3 million dollars in 2013, according to the San Juan County Assessor. Property tax bills for 2014 are based on 2013 assessments. That’s a fraction of the decline compared to 2012, in which the assessed value of all properties in San Juan County dropped by a combined $1.7 billion, or 21.4 percent. There are 1,443 tax exempt parcels in the county, most of them owned by federal, state and local governments. The largest reductions in assessed values occurred in the Rosario, Olga, Doe Bay tax codes area of Orcas Island (just under $27 million), the Friday Harbor area (down by $21.5 million) and in the south San Juan Island area (down by $19.2 million). The largest increase in assessed values was in the remainder of
Orcas tax code area, where assessment went up by almost $28 million. While some went up and others went down, the net reduction of the 19 county tax area codes together equals roughly $2.7 million. This is the first year that year-over-year assessed value changes are “meaningful,” according to county Chief Appraiser John Kulseth, because 2014 is only the second year that the entire county has been revalued. Revaluations are now made annually to all county properties, although only one-sixth of the county is physically inspected every year. Other valuations are made on the basis of local property sales in the areas not physically inspected. The change to annual revaluations, required by state law, will make future assessments “a lot fairer to everybody,” Kulseth said. “We’re really happy about annual countywide revaluations on a whole bunch of levels.” Requested levy amounts by all taxing districts in the county went up by only .43 percent, mostly because the state levy request went down by 4.52 percent. All other districts except San Juan Hospital EMS and Orcas Cemetery District #2 went up. The total requested See SLOWS, Page 4
March 24, 1989, is a 25th anniversary that is anything but silver. It’s an oily black celebration of death. David Nash and Lynn Danaher certainly aren’t celebrating anything. Their lives and livelihoods were forever altered on that date. They remember it well, but not with fondness. Far from it. Countless living things, including 140 bald eagles, 22 orcas and as many as a quarter million birds died within days of the spill, and many more in the weeks that followed. Pawnation.com estimates that “small organisms were killed by the trillions.” Oceana, a conservation organization, reports that some species of loons, salmon, seals, ducks, herrings, pigeons, mussel and clam populations have never fully recovered. At least 11 million gallons of oil and perhaps as many as 25 million gallons were spilled. Several estimates say that 20,000 gallons or more of the spill still pollute Prince William Sound and nearby beaches. Exxon spent over $3.8 billion to clean up some of the oil, compensate 11,000 residents and fishermen and pay fines. However, it could have been $4.5 billion more. The Alaskan court ordered Exxon to pay $5 billion in punitive damages in 1994. After 14 years of lawsuits and appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Exxon only owed $507.5 million - about 12 hours of revenue for the giant oil company, according to Larry West in the About.com Guide to the Environment. Hundreds of claims are still not
2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association
paid and many claimants have died - their heirs can claim the payments. Many fishing license holders, including apparently Todd and Sarah Palin, did not file claims. “The pair was among the nearly 1,000 plaintiffs who have not claimed their payouts on a list released last week by managers of the settlement fund,” wrote Yereth Rosen in a Reuters news dispatch. As many as 150 islanders, including twenty from the Nash family alone, fished Alaska at various times before Exxon Valdez. Nash family members fished the Cook Inlet area north of Prince William Sound. Their fishing grounds were heavily polluted with oil. Paul and David first started going to Alaska at age 12 See VALDEZ, Page 4
Home & Garden The Journal’s special Home & Garden section publishes April 16; sales deadline, March 31.