EXXON VALDEZ happen any day again, Stop drilling in Arctic!

The Complete Story of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (Please look through the petition...the pictures!

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill caused by the tanker ship Exxon Valdez in March 1989 in the Prince William Sound region of Alaska is the biggest known oil spill casualty to have occurred in the last two decades. The Exxon Valdez was carrying crude oil of the variant Prudhoe Bay and out of the total cargo capacity of 58 million gallon that it was carrying nearly 10.9 million was spilled into the Alaskan coastline, making it one of the biggest maritime fatality to occur at that time.

How did the Accident Occur?

The main reason that the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill occurred was because the ship Exxon Valdez took a route which was not prescribed under the normal shipping route and thus got stranded after encountering the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound. Because of this violation by the Exxon Valdez, after the incident the company Exxon Mobil charted out a clause which spoke about strict following of the prescribed shipping routes and lanes so as to avoid any further marine accident of a magnitude like the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

Post Oil Spill

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill occurred in the non-continuous coastline of Alaska but yet its effects and ramifications were huge and enormous. And in spite of the fact that the company Exxon Mobil helped greatly in the clean-up operations along with the US Coast Guard and spent nearly around $ 300 million to salvage the eco-system and the environmental habitat of the people and creatures of the affected part, the inadvertent-yet-avertable accident caused by the Exxon Valdez ended up leaving a huge impact on the environment.

Over 11,000 personnel, 58 air crafts and 1,400 vessels were used to clear the affected area which involved complex operations like relocating several marine creatures in order to safeguard their life till the clean-up operations were completed successfully. The entire course of the clean-up operation took around three years from 1989 to 1992 and even now, monitoring is done of the entire length of the coastline where the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill occurred so as to observe any late-emerging effects of the oil spill.

Effects of the Oil Spill

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill caused a lot of ill-effects not only for the marine creatures but also for the people residing in that area. One of the immediate short-term effects of the casualty caused by the Exxon Valdez was that recreational fishing which was conducted in the Prince William Sound was greatly hampered because of the penetration of oil into the waters. In the year that the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill was caused, there was a total financial loss up to $ 580 million because of reduction and in some areas, complete absence of recreational fishing. Additionally, tourism was also hampered because a majority of the locales were involved in the clean-up operations leading to an acute shortage in the labour market for the purpose of tourism.

And while these were just short-term impacts on the Alaskan economy, the long-term effects of the accident caused by the Exxon Valdez was and is being felt more on the eco-system and the environment than on anybody else. The clean-up operations were largely successful because the response to the incident was prompt not only by the US government but also by the company – Exxon Mobil.

Long Term Effects and Other Problems

But the penetration into the further depths of the ocean caused by the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill is way too enormous for clearing-up immediately. There is the concept known as ‘surface oil’ and ‘sub-surface oil’. Out of the two, while the former has been cleared up to a larger extent, it is the latter that now stands to cause negative impact on the ecology.

The sub-surface oil is that penetrating part of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill that still appears to be inactive in terms of negative impact but in reality contains far more poisonous content that could harm not just the marine creatures but also the flora and fauna. At present, despite the clean-up, about 20 acres of the Alaskan coastline is supposed to be polluted by this sub-surface oil phenomenon.

This is a cause of huge worry because given the thought about global warming and rise in sea levels, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill adds another dimension to the story. Plants and marine mammals in the cold region, which are already facing the threat of extinction because of the rise in temperatures, have to deal with slicking of oil on their skin and less oxygen to breathe because of the presence of oil in the waters. Even birds which come to the waters for finding fish have to deal with oil slicking on their wings and feathers thus preventing them from flying, suffocating them and ultimately killing them.

Conclusion

The enormity of the marine casualty caused by Exxon Valdez is something that is being felt even in recent times and will be seen even in the future. But owing to the prompt and effective response from the concerned parties, the impact of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill will definitely be reduced rather than being completely destructive in the absence of any clean-up response. Owing to this positivity of the situation, one can be rest assured that in spite of an accident happening, one managed to avert the worst and ended up doing a marine salvage in the best possible manner.

Source: Marine insight