Exxon Valdex Oil Spill

4 Pages 885 Words

On March 24, 1989 a 987 foot ship, the second newest in Exxon Shipping Company's 20-tanker fleet, was loaded with 53,094,510 gallons or 1,264,155 barrels of North Slope crude oil headed for Long Beach, California. Shortly after midnight, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker was grounded at the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska that ruptured eight of its eleven cargo tanks. As a result an estimated 11 million gallons or 257,000 barrels of crude oil spilled across 1,300 miles of the Alaskan coastline. This horrific event is considered one of the most publicized and studied environmental disasters in history.
The Exxon Valdez spill is considered the number one spill worldwide for the most damage to the environment. Factors such as the timing of the spill, location, length of miles of shoreline, and the plentiful wildlife in the region altogether does not compare to other spills in terms of the environment. There were no human lives directly lost as a result of the oil spill but there were four deaths reported in the clean up efforts. After the spill, more than 35,000 bird carcasses and 1,000 sea otters were found after the spill. This is only considered to be a small fraction though, because most carcasses usually sink. But an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales and billions of salmon and herring eggs died.
Exxon and many concerned people wondered how such a terrible event could happen. Considering tankers had safely and successfully transferred crude oil at Prince William Sound more than 8,700 times in the past 12 years since oil began flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline. It was discovered that the captain was seen in a local bar, and admitted to having some alcoholic drinks. Several hours after the accident, a blood test showed alcohol in the captain’s blood. The state charged him with operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol. However, and ...