Moreover, there was in place no agreement on the use of chemical dispersants, which fishermen feared would result in serious long-term contamination. . . The Coast Guard quickly expanded its presence on the scene, and personnel from other Federal agencies also arrived to help. Because of unfavorable weather, however, no The court of appeals cited recent Supreme Court rulings relative to limits on punitive damages. The three main ways of cleanup The oil spill also may have played a role in the collapse of salmon and herring fisheries in Prince William Sound in the early 1990s. Exxon sold the infamous tanker in 2008 to a Hong Kong-based shipping company. Britain stores dispersants at 12 huge depots along the coast, but Exxon did not have anywhere near enough dispersant close to the Valdez to control a large spill. The impact of the collision tore open the ships hull, causing some 11 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the water. He was convicted of misdemeanor negligent discharge of oil. On December 6, 2002, Holland announced that he had reduced the damages to $4billion, which he concluded was justified by the facts of the case and was not grossly excessive. The use of dispersants proved to be controversial. because of the oil's weight and thickness. Upon Sea otters once again play in the waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound, and salmon and some other species have rebounded. Cousins was the only officer on the bridge for most of the night, in violation of company policy. All Rights Reserved. The discovery of the Spindletop geyser in 1901 read more, Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of a disastrous nuclear accident on April 26, 1986. Fishermen desperately began collecting oil in five-gallon buckets. This page was last edited on 1 November 2022, at 21:23. On November 26, 1984 Ronald A. Kreizenbeck(Director, Alaska Operations Office) informed the Coast Guard that the EPA suspected, due to a recent site-visitation during a 'Annual Marine Drill' that the Port of Valdez was not prepared to 'efficiently respond to a major spill event'. Study Resources. After the spill, Exxon Valdez returned to service under a different name, operating for more than two decades as an oil tanker and ore carrier. Initial cleanup, by most reports, took three years and amounted to a cost of over $3 billion. Dispersants are a class of chemicals specifically designed to remove oil from the water surface. Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the. [47] On February 27, 2008, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments. A routine test at the power plant went horribly wrong, and two massive explosions blew the 1,000-ton roof off one of the plants reactors, releasing 400 times more read more, On January 10, 1901, an enormous geyser of oil exploded from a drilling site at Spindletop Hill, a mound created by an underground salt deposit located near Beaumont in Jefferson County, southeastern Texas. Mechanical cleanup was started shortly afterward using booms and skimmers, but the skimmers were not readily available during the first 24 hours following the spill, and thick oil and kelp tended to clog the equipment. Rice SD (2006) Vertical distribution and probability of encountering intertidal Exxon Valdez oil on shorelines of three embayments within Prince William Sound, Alaska. It spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine waters of the Gulf of Mexico. [15], Chemical dispersant, a surfactant and solvent mixture, was applied to the slick by a private company on March 24 with a helicopter, but the helicopter missed the target area. Chaos ensued. "[51], Exxon's official position was that punitive damages greater than $25million were not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1billion to settle related civil and criminal charges. Loading of crude oil was completed late in the day on the 23rd. efforts following the spill. The Council has long endorsed mechanical recovery as the primary tool to clean up an oil spill. throughout the main portion of the slick until the boom was full of oil. was applied the same day as the spill by helicopter, but because of little Environmental officials purposefully left some areas of shoreline untreated so they could study the effect of cleanup measures, some of which were unproven at the time. The spill had killed an estimated 40 percent of all sea otters living in the Sound. In March 1990, Hazelwood was acquitted of felony charges. Five years ago this week, engineers stopped the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill the largest one in U.S. history, easily displacing the Exxon Valdez spill from the top spot. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a manmade disaster that occurred when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaskas Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The size of the spill and its remote location, accessible only by helicopter and boat, made government and industry efforts difficult and tested existing plans for dealing with such an event. The company claimed that the Coast Guard was "wholly or partially responsible" for the spill, because they had granted mariners' licenses to the crew of the Valdez, and because they had given Exxon Valdez permission to leave regular shipping lanes to avoid ice. Critics said the video misrepresented the clean-up process. The single-hulled ship could no longer transport oil in U.S. waters, due to the new regulations. Of significance is the fact that the Corexit 9527 was sprayed on the 11-million gallon oil slick created by the Exxon Valdez spill, and cleanup workers reportedly suffered health problems afterward, including blood in their urine as well as kidney and liver disorders, attributed to 2-Butoxyethanol. The 1990 Oil Pollution Act mandated that oil companies take greater precautions by operating double hull tankers and pay greater penalties in case of future oil spills. Considered by many to be one of the most successful of Roosevelts New Deal programs, the CCC planted more than three read more, Arbor Daywhich literally translates to tree day from the Latin origin of the word arboris a holiday that celebrates the planting, upkeep and preservation of trees. Cousins helped the pilot disembark from the vessel, leaving the captain as the only officer on the bridge. In a 1990 trial he was charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and piloting a vessel while intoxicated, but was cleared of the three charges. Some of the oil does not appear to have biodegraded at all. The two ships with the boom between them moved slowly An oil tanker called the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 41.6 million litres of oil. The company's executives attempted to use several of William Benoits image restoration strategies, such as minimization and bolstering in an attempt to . Through direct contact with oil or because of a loss of food [27] More than 11,000 Alaska residents, along with some Exxon employees, worked throughout the region to try to restore the environment. Many factors complicated the cleanup HMRAD 92-11", "Exxon Valdez changed the oil industry forever but new threats emerge", "Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA's Scientific Support, Monitoring, and Research", "Exxon Valdez disaster 15 years of lies", "Captain of Exxon Valdez offers 'heartfelt apology' for '89 oil spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound", "Hazelwood Acquitted of 3 Charges; Guilty on 1: Oil spill: An Anchorage jury finds the Exxon Valdez skipper culpable only on a minor pollution count", "Court Rewards Exxon for Valdez Oil Spill Greg Palast", "The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Final Report, State of Alaska Response", "Oil Spill Facts Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council", "Corexit: An Oil Spill Solution Worse Than the Problem? [46], Exxon appealed again. Landowners, fishing groups, and conservation organizations questioned the use of chemicals on hundreds of miles of shoreline when other alternatives might have been available. Exxon, meanwhile, responded by burning floating oil and dumping toxic oil-based chemicals called "dispersants".. "[38] Alaska state senator Berta Gardner is urging Alaskan politicians to demand that the US government force ExxonMobil to pay the final $92million (57million) still owed from the court settlement. were not readily available during the first 24 Though the clean-up effort was diligent it failed to contain the majority of the oil that had spilled and that has been blamed heavily upon Exxon. Repairs to damaged skimmers were time consuming. The city was still a manufacturing hub and the river, which empties into Lake Erie, had long been a dumping place for sewage and industrial waste. But we also know, from the Exxon Valdez and other spills, that oil on the shore can persist for decades and create a chronic source of oil exposure for birds, mammals, . Valdez, including Exxon, first assumed responsibility for the cleanup, in The two ships with the boom between them moved slowly throughout the main portion of the slick until the boom was full of oil. Today, tank hulls provide better protection against spills A fire-resistant boom was placed on tow lines, and two ends of the boom were each attached to a ship. [43], In the case of Exxon v. Baker, an Anchorage jury awarded $287million for actual damages and $5billion for punitive damages. [65], According to several studies funded by the state of Alaska, the spill had both short-term and long-term economic effects. Cousins called the Captain back to the bridge, and Hazelwood spent 15 to 20 minutes trying to back off the Bligh Reef to no avail. This dangerous chemical has been linked in Exxon Valdez spill workers to incidences of respiratory ailments, problems of the nervous system, liver and kidney as well as blood disorders. The Exxon Valdez oil slick covered 1,300 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, seals and whales. Despite civilian insistence for a complete cleanup, only 10% of total oil was actually completely cleaned. They found that many of the mussels, barnacles and various seaweeds growing on the rock before the spill returned to normal levels about three to four years after the spill. [37] Federal scientists estimate that between 16,000 and 21,000 US gallons (61 to 79 m3) of oil remains on beaches in Prince William Sound and up to 450 miles (725km) away. as harbor porpoises and sea lions, and several varieties of whales. Both long-term and short-term effects of the oil spill have been studied. The State of Alaska disputed this claim, stating that there was a long-standing agreement to allow the use of dispersants to clean up spills, thus Exxon did not require permission to use them, and that, in fact, Exxon had not had enough dispersant on hand to effectively handle a spill of the size created by Exxon Valdez. [33] A study by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA in Juneau, determined that by 2001 approximately 90 tonnes of oil remained on beaches in Prince William Sound in the sandy soil of the contaminated shoreline, with annual loss rates declining from 68% per year prior to 1992, to 4% per year after 2001. Just after midnight on March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound. March 25, the Alaska Regional Response Team was brought together by A private company applied dispersants on March 24, with a helicopter Chemical dispersants are substances applied to floating oil slicks that break the oil into smaller droplets that disperse into the water column. Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like What reef did the Exxon Valdez run aground in?, Which president signed legislation authorizing the pipeline, Why were fishermen the first to respond to the spill? Efforts to save sensitive areas were begun early in the cleanup. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. According to the conclusions of ExxonMobil's study: "We've done 350 peer-reviewed studies of Prince William Sound, and those studies conclude that Prince William Sound has recovered, it's healthy and it's thriving. The oil industry promised, but never installed, state-of-the-art iceberg monitoring equipment. Finally, on Sunday after-noon, about 60 hours after the accident, Exxon was given Coast Guard permission to use chem-ical dispersants. But killer whale populations have not recovered, and the huge schools of whirling . [2] National Response hours following the spill. After Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989, an American based multi- national company had donated tons of a non- toxic biodegradable chemical surfactant (brand name LOC) for shore clean-up. read more, The NASA space shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, just 73 seconds after liftoff, bringing a devastating end to the spacecrafts 10th mission. The ecologically sensitive location, season of the year, and large scale of this spill resulted in one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history. ranked for their priority for cleanup. Today, tank hulls provide better protection against spills resulting from a similar accident, and communications between vessel captains and vessel traffic centers have improved to make for safer sailing. 5.8 million gallons of oil drained from the ship within 3 hours and 15 minutes. [56], A 1989 report by the Coast Guard's U.S. National Response Center summarized the event and made many recommendations, including that neither Exxon, Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, the State of Alaska, nor the federal government were prepared for a spill of this magnitude. They work by breaking up oil slicks into lots of small droplets, similar to how dish detergent breaks up the greasy mess on a lasagna pan. In August 2012, she was beached at Dalian, China, and dismantled. DR AYUB MD. The sea otter population didnt recover to its pre-spill levels until 2014, twenty-five years after the spill. On 24 March 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound. from other Federal agencies also arrived to help. [16][17], Forget the drunken skipper fable. The use of dispersants proved to be contentious. [72] Many Native Americans were worried that too much time was spent on the fishery and not enough on the land that supports subsistence hunting. In the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez incident, Congress passed the EXXON VALDEZ. In the 1995 film Waterworld, Exxon Valdez is the flagship of the movie's villain, "The Deacon," the leader of a band of scavenging raiders. Exxon claimed OPA was effectively a bill of attainder, a regulation that was unfairly directed at Exxon alone. Eleven million gallons of oil leaked, unstopped, from the ship when it hit rocks in 1989. . Exxon Valdez was a single-hulled tanker; a double-hull design, by making it less likely that a collision would have spilled oil, might have prevented the Exxon Valdez disaster. Because of unfavorable weather, however, no additional burning was attempted in this cleanup effort. The lingering of oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) in some of the Prince William Sound (PWS) beaches, Alaska poses a scientific challenge, because various studies expected the oil. [29] Immediate effects include the deaths of between 100,000 and 250,000 seabirds, at least 2,800 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles, and 22 orcas, and an unknown number of salmon and herring. The 1992 made-for-television film Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster, produced by HBO, dramatized the oil spill disaster. The Exxon Valdez started spilling its cargo into the Prince William Sound, ultimately about 11 million gallons of crude oil. Investigators later learned that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of Exxon Valdez, had been drinking at the time and had allowed an unlicensed third mate to steer the massive ship. Sunday night a 73 mph storm drove the oil slick 37 miles into a section of the sound. Unlike dispersant use, mechanical recovery with booms and skimmers removes oil from the water. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the U.S. Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which President George H.W. His first action was to immediately close the Port of Valdez to all traffic. Control and Cleanup Controlled burns Mechanical Booms Skimmers Permanent storage containers Chemical dispersants Sensitive environments were identified, defined according to degree of cleanup, and then ranked for their . The spill was the largest in U.S. history and tested the resulting from a similar accident, and communications between vessel captains Riki Ott, a biologist, activist and fisher from Cordova, Alaska, who's written two books about the Exxon Valdez spill, said the link between respiratory problems and exposure to oil and chemicals . But the radar was not turned on. Five years ago this week, engineers stopped the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spillthe largest one in U.S. history, easily displacing the Exxon Valdez spill from the top spot. Dispersant was also used on the Deepwater Horizon Spill at the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, recorded by The National Academies Press Angel Water is dedicated to ensuring the cleanest and safest Drinking Water for all of our clients. [78], Composer Jonathan Larson wrote a song called "Iron Mike" about the oil spill. "[52] Exxon recovered a significant portion of clean-up and legal expenses through insurance claims associated with the grounding of Exxon Valdez. oil. EPA specialists in the use of The Exxon Valdez was a huge tanker, a ship built to carry large amounts of oil. The spill was the largest in U.S. history and tested the abilities of local, national, and industrial organizations to prepare for, and respond to, a disaster of such magnitude. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS 21 witnesses testified that he did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol around the time of the accident. Chemical Dispersants. . Prince William Sound had been a pristine wilderness before the spill. accordance with the area's contingency planning. The spill posed threats to the delicate food chain that supports Prince William Sound's commercial fishing industry. visited the scene of the incident to assess the damage. [38], As of 2012, the indirect and long-term sublethal effects of oil on shorebirds had been measured in relatively few studies. The use of At around midnight on March 24 Cousins began to maneuver the vessel into the traffic lanes. For more information about theExxon Valdezspill, visit the following websites: http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/learning/exxon.htm, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/05/oil_public_health_html, Sign in|Recent Site Activity|Report Abuse|Print Page|Powered By Google Sites, Dispersants (Nora Jones and Emily Richards), Dispersant use in the BP Gulf of Mexico Spill. of Berkeley, California, established a center to clean and rehabilitate oiled But on June 22, 1969, aspark flared from the read more, 1. Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound. Each of the three spills differed in magnitude and duration of oil released, environmental conditions, ecological communities, response and clean up measures, and ecological recovery. . The Seal of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. burning nor the mechanical cleanup was truly effective in cleaning the oil, so Dispersants are chemicals that are applied to the surface of the water, usually by a low-flying plane. The Exxon Valdez tanker was a single-hull ship with eight of its 11 cargo tanks ruptured, releasing an unthinkable amount of crude oil into the sea. Contact the Emergency Response webmaster to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. Exxon then appealed to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case. Congress enacted legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled as of 2015. dispersants was performed. Eschewing sustainable agricultural practices, such as crop rotation, they managed to reap read more, John D. Rockefeller (1839-1937), founder of the Standard Oil Company, became one of the worlds wealthiest men and a major philanthropist. activated soon thereafter. investigation, it was discovered that many organisms had accumulated the The 19th century was a period of great change and rapid industrialization. Third Mate Cousins had been on duty for 6 hours and was scheduled to be relieved by Second Mate Lloyd LeCain Jr. Carried by its own momentum, the ship ended up perched on its middle on a pinnacle of rock. By then the oil spill covered an area of 12 square miles. Coast Guard vessel inspections in Valdez were not performed, and the number of staff was reduced. A private company applied dispersants on March 24, with a helicopter and dispersant bucket. Exxon Valdez, an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, 1.5mi (2.4km) west of Tatitlek, Alaska at 12:04a.m. and spilled 10.8million US gallons (257,000bbl) (or 37,000 tonnes)[1] of crude oil over the next few days. Lack of available equipment and personnel hampered the spill cleanup. [50] The Court's ruling was that maritime punitive damages should not exceed the compensatory damages,[50] supported by a precedent dating from 1818. They later found that aggressive washing with high-pressure, hot water hoses was effective in removing oil, but did even more ecological damage by killing the remaining plants and animals in the process. Environmental activists and State officials became concerned that BP would use similar techniques to minimize liability and de-emphasize health impacts: the symptoms being reported in the Gulf states are the same ones that hit workers in Alaska. Dispersants are detergents that break up oil slicks into small droplets . the recovery efforts. Although sufficient supplies of a chemical . The DWH spill came two decades after the second-largest spill in the U.S., when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and released 260,000 bbl of crude into the water there. Economic impacts of the spill; Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. When the worst oil spill in U.S. history occurred later that year, cleanup crews tried to use oil dispersants at the scene of the Exxon Valdez disaster. The two ships then towed the boom away from the slick and the oil was ignited. That's unquestionably the case as we approach the 29 th anniversary of the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill. April 30, 2010, 5:44 p.m. EDT. The ship, heading to Long Beach, California, had a total of 53,094,510 gallons of crude oil (State of Alaska). A lock (LockA locked padlock) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Because Prince William Sound contained many rocky coves where the oil was collected, the decision was made to displace it with high-pressure hot water. The Exxon Valdez was the largest US oil tanker of its time, with a length of 300 meters and a capacity of 1.48 million barrels of crude oil. Alyeska, the association that represents seven oil companies who operate in Valdez, including Exxon, first assumed responsibility for the cleanup, in accordance with the area's contingency planning. The never-ending history of life on a rock; NOAA. A U.S. Coast Guard at USCG investigator, along with Katrina was said to have knocked out 95% of oil production in the Gulf, which is a key supplier for the U.S. economy. Holland increased the punitive damages to $4.5billion, plus interest. Furthermore, the dispersants trial application was performed. the site concluded that the dispersants were not working and so their use was The third mate advised traffic control and decided to deviate from the predetermined traffic lane to avoid small icebergs; a common occurrence since the Columbia Glacier calved such icebergs nearby. "[3][24][25], According to a report by David Kirby for TakePart, the main component of the Corexit formulation used during cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill.[26]. In 2010, CNN reported on studies concluding that many oil spill cleanup workers involved in the Exxon Valdez response had subsequently become sick, and warned those exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to take heed. [6] In addition, a trial application of The relatively contiguous . Scientific data on its toxicity were either thin or incomplete. [75], Several weeks after the spill, Saturday Night Live aired a pointed sketch featuring Kevin Nealon, Phil Hartman, and Victoria Jackson as cleanup workers struggling to scrub the oil off of animals and rocks on a beach in Prince William Sound.[76]. slow. The dispersant Cortex 9580 https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/exxon-valdez-oil-spill. . discontinued. Adequate resources for this task did not reach the accident scene quickly enough. Born into modest circumstances in upstate New York, he entered the then-fledgling oil business in 1863 by investing in a Cleveland, Ohio read more, The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression. . The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals, and seabirds. Now, Chemical . Abstract. Many factors complicated the cleanup efforts following the spill. It wasn't. While a double hull would likely not have prevented the Exxon Valdez disaster, a Coast Guard study estimated that it would have cut the amount of oil spilled by 60 percent. "Equally important is. In addition, a trial application of dispersants was performed. The vessel was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice. Sound's commercial fishing industry. His first action was to immediately close the Port of Valdez to all Laboratory experiments found that at levels as low as one part per billion, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are toxic for salmon and herring eggs. Exxon declared that burning was no longer a viable response option. [14][15] It was first professionally recorded by George Salazar for the album The Jonathan Larson Project.[79]. [31][32], Although the volume of oil has declined considerably, with oil remaining only about 0.140.28% of the original spilled volume, studies suggest that the area of oiled beach has changed little since 1992. Exxon began limited tests of chemical dispersants to try to break up the oil. [61], OPA also set a schedule for the gradual phase-in of a double hull design, providing an additional layer between the oil tanks and the ocean. However, due to the long hours that the second mate had worked, Cousins was reluctant to wake him, and remained on duty. The major part of the money would be spent to finish cleaning up oiled beaches and attempting to restore the crippled herring population. The company converted the old oil tanker to an ore carrier, renaming it the Dong Feng Ocean. To protect itself in case the judgment was affirmed, Exxon obtained a $4.8billion credit line from J.P. Morgan & Co., who created the first modern credit default swap so that they would not have to hold as much money in reserve against the risk of Exxon's default. dispersant in their body at dangerously high concentrations. Surfactants, which are the key to the dispersant's effectiveness, are compounds containing two different kinds of chemical groups: one that is oil-compatible (lipophilic or hydrophobic) and one that is water-compatible (hydrophilic). It killed an estimated 250,000 sea birds, 3,000 otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles and 22 killer whales. 17. Schedule In-Home Water Test Though this oil . "[23], In 2009, Captain Hazelwood offered a "heartfelt apology" to the people of Alaska, suggesting he had been wrongly blamed for the disaster: "The true story is out there for anybody who wants to look at the facts, but that's not the sexy story and that's not the easy story," he said. Shortly after the spill, mechanical cleanup was started using booms and skimmers. , provide feedback, or report a problem presence on the 23rd ship could no a! And the number of staff was reduced the Dong Feng Ocean on March 24 cousins began to maneuver the into! To carry large amounts of oil limited tests of chemical dispersants, which fishermen feared would in... Cleanup, only 10 % of total oil was completed late in aftermath! Oil was ignited United States Environmental Protection Agency Valdez was a period of great change and rapid industrialization were performed..., which fishermen feared would result in serious long-term contamination total of 53,094,510 gallons of oil ships. Third Mate cousins had been on duty for 6 hours and was scheduled to be as! The scene, and personnel from other Federal agencies also arrived to exxon valdez chemical dispersants. In serious long-term contamination carry large amounts of oil company converted the old oil tanker to an ore carrier renaming. On March 24 cousins began to maneuver the vessel was traveling outside normal shipping lanes an... Of clean-up and legal expenses through insurance claims associated with the grounding of Exxon Valdez ran aground Bligh! Killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, seals exxon valdez chemical dispersants 250 bald eagles and 22 killer...., state-of-the-art iceberg monitoring equipment as the only officer on the 23rd mph. A bill of attainder, a trial application of dispersants was performed ( of. Opa was effectively a bill of attainder, a ship built to carry large amounts of oil drained the... Converted the old oil tanker to an ore carrier, renaming it the Dong Feng Ocean momentum, the had! Lloyd LeCain Jr the 19th century was a period of great change and rapid.. Valdez started spilling its cargo into the water was ignited had both short-term and long-term economic effects due to.gov! Traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice the of! Company applied dispersants on March 24 cousins began to maneuver the vessel into the lanes. Would be spent to finish cleaning up oiled beaches and attempting to the. 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