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Shortly after midnight on
March 24, 1989, the Exxon
Valdez impaled itself on Bligh
Reef in Alaska’s Prince William
Sound. The tanker leaked
38,800 metric tons of crude oil,
fouling 1,300 miles of coastline
and wrecking the local fishing
industry. During the next
20 years, Exxon spent more
than two billion dollars on
cleanup and lawsuits.
The accident served as a rallying cry for environmentalists and prompted the U.S. and other nations to implement stricter standards for cargo vessels in their waters. In 2010 a UN phaseout of single-hulled tankers, like the Valdez, in which a single steel plate separates cargo from sea, will take full effect. Improvements such as better radar and broad use of GPS navigation have also reduced mishaps.
Scientists struggle to learn how much oil enters the oceans each year. The National Research Council estimates 1.3 million metric tons, with tanker spills making up 8 percent. Perhaps the most surprising contributor is Mother Earth, with seepage from natural deposits accounting for as much as 46 percent.
—Peter Gwin
A WORLD OF SPILLS This map shows the 439 reported oil spills of ten metric tons or more from tankers and barges between 1989 and 2007. Since the 1980s, spills of 700 metric tons or more dropped from an average of nine a year to four.
Photo: A puddle of Venezuelan crude oil. Photograph by Rebecca Hale, NG Staff. Map: NGM Maps. Sources: International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council
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Comments
Apr 30, 2009 3PM #
how does natural seepage happen?
Apr 30, 2009 3PM #
Send a armed submarine down to the oil well opening and blast the hell out of it. This should close the pipes and cut off the oil leak or at the very least greatly reduce the oil seepage until a permanent solution is implemented (1-3 months? ouch!)
Apr 30, 2009 3PM #
Natural people use zillions of gallons of natural oil wastefully, then an oil rig explodes, and oil naturally leaks into the natural ocean.
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