Exxon Valdez's Effect On The Environment

Massive cleanup efforts were initiated within a few weeks of the spill and they continued at reduced levels for the next three years. Approximately 14% of the spilled oil was recovered by cleanup crews (Newsweek, p.50). As a result of these efforts and natural weathering, little oil from the spill remained in the affected area by 1992. However, according to the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration some oil residues are still found under the ocean surface in areas sheltered from wind and waves. Yet, these residues are highly weathered and the toxicity is reduced to levels tolerable by organisms in the water (7). Nonetheless, the magnitude and timing of the Exxon Valdez oil spill raised immediate concerns about possible effects on marine fish and wildlife and prospects that these effects might be long lasting.

Oil Pollution in Earth’s oceans is a tremendous problem the environment, organisms, and humans are facing today. Pollution from petroleum products are extremely toxic to many marine organisms, including microorganisms that are the support of the aquatic food chain. Oil is a substance that can disperse under and across the surface of water for thousands of meters. Shorelines are left covered with this oil and it can be hard to remove (Friedland). The United States depends enormously on oil. On average, the United States uses 793 million gallons of oil per day, with a cost of $2 billion dollars each day. It is the world’s biggest oil consumer. The combined oil consumption of Japan, Russia, China, and India are far way less than that of the U.S (“The Great Invisible Discussion Guide”). Burning oil produces a big amount of greenhouse gases. It is “the largest single fuel of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S” (“The Great Invisible Discussion Guide”). Having dependence on oil can have significant costs, including an increased risk of oil spills. One of the biggest oil leaks occurred in 2010. It happened in an offshore platform on a BP operation in the Gulf of Mexico (Friedland).

On the afternoon of January 28, 1969, a terrible environmental disaster occurred when a well blowout on the Union Oil Company platform A, causing one of the largest oil spill in the United States. The platform was located in Summerland Oil Field pier which 6 miles east of city of Santa Barbara. Riggers desperately tried to repair the well before oil started spreading to the shoreline. Needless to say, the effects of the oil spill sparked outrage from the local community and the media that inevitably caused ecological effects, safety and ethical concerns. It took oil workers a total of 11 days to cap the ruptured pipe, while an estimated 3 million gallons of poisonous black crude oil showered the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, oceans

One of the most recognized disasters regarding hazardous chemicals is the wreck of the infamous Exxon Valdez. After the oil tanker ran aground on Bligh reef in the spring of 1989, millions of liters of crude oil leaked into the Prince William Sound, off the coast of Northern Alaska causing millions of the native wildlife to die. Thankfully, it didn’t seep into the open ocean but the oil harmed not only the local Alaskan wildlife it also harmed the reputation and honesty of big oil corporations such as the Exxon shipping company, the livelihoods of thousands of the local fishermen and the water quality of the Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez

Twenty seven years ago, tragedy struck the cold Pacific waters of Bligh reef in Alaska. March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill took place. It was a devastating and horrific event that took more life than you can could count within the same hour. It is said to be the cause of mischeck and improper equipment supply. The cause was so big, no one noticed it. Such a massacre of wildlife could have been avoided if only they took the time to care.

Petroleum is the oil found underneath the Earth’s surfaces also known as crude oil. It is considered to be highly toxic as it is composed of many organic chemicals. In 1989 the Exxon Valdez tanker collided with Bligh Reef, which is off the coast of Bligh Island in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The collision resulted in over 11 million gallons of oil to spill into the ocean. It has been 27 years since the Exxon Valdez oil spill and it is important to understand what happened to cause the spill, the impact the oil spill had, the process used to clean up, and changes made to prevent future spill.

The first most significant fact about the Exxon disaster is that more than 300,000 birds and 2,600 otters were killed because of the oil spill. The reason for this large number of animals being killed was because of the ingestion of toxic chemicals, starvation, and because of hypothermia when trying to swim through the oil causing the oil to soaked feathers, which than cause the birds to lose their insulating capacity. The second significant fact is that the cleanup that they were trying to do was futile because when they would clean the oil up more oil would come back cause only 3% of the oil to be clean. The third most significant fact is that with the steam cleaners and pressure washing only drove the oil deep into the ground and rocky

On March 23, 1989; a 987 foot Exxon ship was carrying 53,094,510 gallons (1,264,155 barrels) of North Slope crude oil and was headed for Long Beach, California. Before that day, they transported more than 8,700 times over 12 years without problems.The Exxon Valdez grounded at Bligh Reef that day, rupturing 8 of its 11 tanks. These spilled about 10.8 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound (Gulf of Alaska). No human lives were lost as a direct result of the oil spill, even though through clean up processes 4 people died. As a result however, there were many indirect and immense losses pertaining to humans and nature. (You can see one clean up event in the picture at the top,

An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. Oil spills are normally accidents that happen at sea due to ships crashing into rocks. Oil spills are harmful to marine life, birds and the environment.

The spill occurred at midnight on March 24th, 1989 when the tanker ran aground on the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound of Alaska. The tanker, which filled up in Valdez, Alaska, was headed to Los Angeles, California (Cleveland, 2008). Several factors are said to have contributed to the grounding. First, the tanker was traveling outside of the shipping lanes, in an effort to avoid ice. Then due to fatigue, the third mate failed to maneuver the ship properly, while the ship captain provided poor navigation, because he was intoxicated. The tanker spilled approximately 11 million gallons of crude oil. Two days after the spill, a powerful storm with winds over 70 mph hit the Alaskan coast, which transformed the oil into mousse and tar balls (Cleveland, 2008). The mousse consisted of 67% water and 33% oil, and had a volume that was three times larger than the pure oil spilled. This spill has caused countless economic and ecological problems that the Alaskans had to deal with in the short run and are still dealing with in the long run. One of the immediate negative impacts was death to a great deal of marine wildlife. About 250,000 sea birds died, along with 22 killer whales, 2800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, and untold numbers of fish eggs. It was the largest oil spill in United States waters until 2010. (Guterman and Pasotti, 2009)

At four minutes past midnight, on March 24, 1989 the Exxon Valdez crashed into the Bligh Reef located in the northeastern part of the Prince William Sound. The ship was loaded with 1,264,155 barrels of oil. Approximately one-fifth of the cargo was spilt into the sea, which totaled to 11.2 million gallons. Due to strong northeastern winds the oil could not be contained, leaving the water into an emulsion that will not burn and is nearly impossible to remove from the surface. Oil continued to move southwest eventually reaching the Alaskan Peninsula. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill of 1989 was a significant event, which heightened environmental awareness in both the business and private sectors of the United States.

On April 20th, 2010, an enormous explosion took place on the Deepwater Horizon Rig located fifty miles off the coast of Louisiana. This explosion triggered a chain of events that resulted in the death of eleven workers and more than 184 million gallons of crude oil being spilled into the ocean water (“100 Days,” n.d.). This oil contaminated the habitats of hundreds of species to a nearly unrecoverable extent. If any members of the native wildlife were not killed, they would be found completely coated in oil and in desperate need of care to save their lives. This incident is known as the BP oil spill, and its effects on the environment can still be seen in today’s oceans, for multiple regions are still not cleansed of the substance.

“Spilled oil poses serious threats to freshwater and marine environments. It affects surface resources and a wide range of subsurface organisms that are linked in a complex food chain that includes human food resources. Spilled oil can harm the environment in several ways, including the physical damages that directly impact wildlife and their habitats (such as coating birds or mammals with a layer of oil), and the toxicity of the oil itself, which can poison exposed organisms. The severity of an oil spill 's impact depends on a variety of factors, including the physical properties of the oil, whether oils are petroleum-based or non petroleum-based, and the ultimate fate

The 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill was the largest ship-based oil spill in US waters where more than 11 million gallons of crude oil poured into the Gulf of Alaska after the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The main causes of the accident were attributed to a fatigued crew, a lack of a proper navigation team while transiting through the Sound, and an inadequate ship design. The oil spill led to federal legislation for ship hull requirements, oil spill prevention and response improvements, and new escorting requirements through the Sound.

Oil spills can impact the environment greatly. Since the oil boats are on the ocean if the break and start to leak it goes into the ocean where it can harm the ocean and those that make their home in it. “That spill caused an immediate and significant impact to the ecosystem, with sightings of birds and turtles washed up on beaches covered with oil, as well as an increase in the deaths of other marine life” (Sinclair, 2017). The oil spill in 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico was the biggest since Deepwater Horizon. It caused harm to the ecosystem around it because technology came in so it could pump oil out of the ground under the ocean. There is no way to know the impact that oil spill and really every oil spill has had on the marine ecosystem.