Exxon+Valdez+Spill

Exxon Valdez Spill March 24, 1989

While in route to Los Angeles, California from Valdez, Alaska, tanker //Exxon Valdez// ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The tanker was attempting to avoid ice by traveling outside normal shipping lanes. 8 of its 11 cargo tanks ruptured, spewing out 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound. After an investigation was launched it was uncovered that the probable cause of the spill was the failure to maneuver the vessel because of fatigue and excessive workload. Other contributing factors were that the captain was impaired from alcohol, and not able to properly navigate the ship. Also that the crew aboard the vessel was underemployed, and the Vessel Traffic Service was ineffective because of inadequate equipment and manning levels. The clean up efforts were handicapped due to the lack of readiness for a disaster as great as this one. The emergency response time should have been the three hours but ten hours had passed before the containment began. Since there was no way to simply get rid of the oil, by day fifty-six it had spread four hundred and seventy miles. Even after twenty years have past since the spill the oil has not been able to break down. The Prince William Sound and the shores surrounding it are still ridden with crude oil from the accident.

Links: - [|Exxon Valdez Spill: One of America's Largest Spills] - [|Exxon Valdez Spill Facts] - [|Exxon Valdez Spill: Emergency Management] - [|Exxon Valdez Spill Disaster]