Exxon
Valdez Oil Spill
Prince William Sound, Alaska, 1989
Summary
data:
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Date:
March 24, 1989
Place: Prince
William Sound, Alaska
Type
of accident: Crude oil spillage
Outcome: The
Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground
on Bligh Reef, the “grounding” of the ship ruptured, and led to the oil spill by
releasing nearly 260 000 barrels of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William
Sound.
 |
| Oil spill overview and location |
What happened?
On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon
Valdez, sailing from Valdez, Alaska to Los Angeles, California, ran aground
on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel
was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an
attempt to avoid ice. Within six hours of the grounding, the Exxon Valdez
spilled approximately 10.9 million gallons of its 53 million gallon cargo of
Prudhoe Bay crude oil. Eight of the eleven tanks on board were damaged.
The oil would eventually impact over 1,100 miles of
non-continuous coastline in Alaska, making the Exxon Valdez one of the
largest oil spill in U.S. waters.
 |
| The oil slick (blue areas) eventually extended 470 miles southwest from Bligh Reef. The spill area eventually totaled 11,000 square miles. (Source: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council) |
Why? How?
Several investigations have been conducted.
Even today, the reasons of such accident are still not completely defined, but
some of them have been already identified.
One of them relies on the fact that Exxon
Shipping Company could have failed to supervise the master and provide a rested
and sufficient crew for Exxon Valdez.
Moreover, one member of the crew may have failed
to properly handle the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload.
Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly
maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance
System (RAYCAS) radar, which, if functional, would have indicated to the
third mate an impending collision with the Bligh
Reef by detecting the "radar reflector", placed on the next rock
inland from Bligh Reef for the
purpose of keeping boats on course via radar.
Effects upon environment
Fortunately, this accident did no human
victims. However, marine and wild lives were the hardest hit by the oil spill.
Lives of millions of fishes almost came to a standstill. Some were killed by
eating oil-contaminated food, while others were starved to death because of the
spoiling of plankton and larva on which they were dependent. Moreover, the
thick layer of oil on the surface disrupted the whole marine life beneath it.
Exxon, which was the owner of the vessel,
originally was ordered by a federal court to pay $5 billion in punitive damages
in 1994. A federal appeal in 2006 reduced it to $2.5 billion. In 2008 the
United States Supreme Court further reduced the damages to just over $500
million. More than $2 billion has been spent on cleanup and recovery.
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| Coasts cleaning in Prince William Sound |
Conclusion
This accident prompted the United States and
other countries to impose more stringent standards to ships that are operating
in their waters.
Concern over the Exxon Valdez oil spill led directly
to several legislative and regulatory changes designed to prevent oil spills
and facilitate clean-up attempts. The 1990 Oil Pollution Act and 1990 Oil
Pollution and Liability Act established a U.S. federal cleanup fund paid for by
a 5 cent per barrel oil tax, mandated double hull containment systems for all
new vessels in excess of 5000 tons by 2005, established minimum liability
limits for shippers, and raised the caps on the maximum liability for oil spills.
In Alaska, the state government passed a law requiring the Alyeska Pipeline
Company to stockpile enough equipment to combat a 300,000-barrel spill. Oil
dispersant storage areas are now located for quick deployment anywhere in the
state. As for port procedures, both a tug and an emergency response vessel now
escort each tanker leaving the Port of Valdez. Tankers now face a speed limit
in the main channel of 10 knots, and ship captains now are tested for alcohol
an hour before sailing. Tankers can no longer leave the channel for any reason
except emergency, and the Coast Guard’s radar surveillance has been enhanced.
The spill also created new interest in scientific research that has resulted in
several new methods for cleaning up oil spills.
(Source : The New York Times)
Sources:
l
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· Exxon Valdez Oil Spill - Alaska
Ressources Library & Information Services : http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol2/a/EVOS_FAQs.pdf
·
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
·
The New York Time – Time Topics – Exxon Valdez oil
spill
