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Inletkeeper History
In 1994, a group of
Alaskans, united in their concern for Cook Inlet, came
together and formed Cook Inletkeeper, modeled after
successful "waterkeeper" programs across the country. In
1995, local conservation groups (Alaska Center for the Environment, Greenpeace, Trustees for Alaska) negotiated a settlement with
Cook Inlet oil & gas producers (Unocal, Shell-Western &
Marathon) for over 4,200 violations of the federal Clean
Water Act in Cook Inlet. The EPA found the allegations so
serious that it joined the litigation, and rather than face
huge potential penalties in court, the oil companies chose
to direct 3 years of start-up funding to Cook Inletkeeper in
a landmark settlement.
The "waterkeeper" concept dates
back to the 19th century English tradition where riverkeepers
were the wardens of private streams, assuring the waters were
healthy, well stocked and free of poachers. In the 1980's,
fishermen concerned about pollution in New York's Hudson River
started the first waterkeeper program in the United States.
Today there are more than 130 waterkeeper programs across the
country, and together they comprise the Waterkeeper Alliance. The common goal of all
waterkeeper programs is to prevent the degradation of important
watersheds through active stewardship, research, advocacy and
education.
Some of Cook Inletkeeper’s major
accomplishments include:
1994: A
group of Alaskans came together for a workshop on environmental
law, science and policy, and set the wheels in motion to pursue
a Waterkeeper program for Cook Inlet.
1995:
Alaska Center for the Environment, Greenpeace and Trustees for
Alaska - joined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- sued Cook Inlet oil and gas producers (Unocal,
Shell-Western & Marathon) for over 4,200 Clean Water Act
violations. The oil and gas companies settled the lawsuit
rather than face hefty penalties in court, and directed 3 years
of start-up funding to Cook Inletkeeper.
1996: Inletkeeper established
Alaska’s first agency-approved citizen-based water quality
monitoring program. Since then, Inletkeeper and its numerous
partner organizations have trained more than 700 citizens to
collect scientifically defensible data to guide better resource
management decisions. Inletkeeper spearheaded a water quality
enforcement action against a road builder near Homer that
installed pollution prevention training for state employees and
added additional acreage to the Kachemak Bay State Park system.
1997: Inletkeeper released the
first-ever “State of the Inlet” report, detailing the status of
pollution, fisheries, wildlife and habitat throughout the
watershed, and held a series of watershed workshops in Anchorage
and Kenai to explore watershed-based management alternatives for
Cook Inlet.
1998: Inletkeeper teamed with
Tribal plaintiffs in litigation that led the Environmental
Protection Agency to conduct the first-ever studies on toxic
pollutants in traditional Native subsistence foods in Cook
Inlet. Inletkeeper also released the GIS Atlas of Cook Inlet,
containing over 120 layers of digital maps and information on
pollution, land use and habitat information. Finally,
Inletkeeper joined with the Homer Soil and Water Conservation
District to begin monitoring water quality data on the four
lower Kenai Peninsula salmon streams: Deep Creek, Ninilchik
River, Stariski Creek and Anchor River.
1999: Inletkeeper prevailed in
litigation that banned offshore oil and gas development in
650,000 acres of sensitive beluga whale habitat within the
State’s annual 4.2 million acre areawide oil and gas lease sale.
2000: Inletkeeper helped
organize a successful grassroots effort to restrict jetskis in
the Kachemak Bay Critical Habitat Area –now the world’s largest
jetski-free zone.
2001: Cook Inletkeeper opened
an Anchorage office and moved into the new Kachemak Bay
Conservation Center in Homer.
2002: Inletkeeper successfully
litigated to stop the newest offshore oil platform in Cook Inlet
from discharging toxic exploratory drilling wastes into
important fisheries. Inletkeeper also released an oil and gas
pipeline report that has played an important role making
industry and government more accountable.
2003: Inletkeeper helped enact
a model watershed protection ordinance for the Bridge Creek
Watershed, the City of Homer’s sole drinking water source. And
Inletkeeper joined with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project
to hold Alaska’s first Coalbed Methane Summit in Wasilla, and
successfully fought back coalbed methane development in Alaska.
2004: Inletkeeper launched the
Cook Inlet Community-based Water Quality Laboratory. Inletkeeper
also helped generate hundreds of public comments and more than
1,200 petition signature opposed to the Governor’s proposed
mixing zones in Alaska’s salmon streams.
2005:
Cook Inletkeeper celebrated its 10th Anniversary.
Inletkeeper also successfully staved off new offshore oil and
gas development in the frontier waters of lower Cook Inlet.
2006:
Inletkeeper retools its salmon stream monitoring work to better
understand the impacts of Alaska’s warming salmon streams, and
uses this information in a pro-salmon, pro-renewable energy
campaign to address the short-term impacts and root causes of
climate change in Alaska.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS (links open in new window)
Waterkeeper Alliance
(www.waterkeeper.org)
Prince William Soundkeeper (www.pwsoundkeeper.org)
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