What can we learn from the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
Lessons from Exxon Valdez, 25 years later
- Oil spill “cleanup” is a myth.
- Oil spills can cause long-term environmental damage.
- Oil spill restoration is impossible.
- Officials habitually understate spill risk, size, and impact.
- Prevention is key.
- Oversight by the public is critical.
- Liability motivates safety.
Who was affected by the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
The oil killed and injured seabirds, sea otters, harbor seals, bald eagles, orcas and other wildlife. Eventually, oil from the spill affected more than 1,000 miles of Alaska’s remote and rugged coastline.
How many oil spills have happened in the US?
Thousands of oil spills occur in U.S. waters each year, but most are small in size, spilling less than one barrel of oil. Yet since the iconic 1969 oil well blowout in Santa Barbara, California, there have been at least 44 oil spills, each over 10,000 barrels (420,000 gallons), affecting U.S. waters.
How many oil pipelines have leaked?
Public concerns over dangerous pipeline leaks are far from ungrounded, as more than 1,650 individual leaks have occurred in the U.S. since 2010, spilling more than 11.5 million gallons of oil. There is also growing mistrust toward the corporations responsible for cleaning up these spills.
What was the largest oil spill in the United States?
1989 – The Exxon Valdez ran aground, spilling 10 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, causing — to date — the worst oil spill in U.S. history.
How likely is an oil spill?
According to Northern Gateway risk assessments, the probability of a tanker spill of any size would be about 0.4 per cent in any given year. Northern Gateway said the probability of a full-bore rupture on the oil pipeline would be 0.2 per cent in a given year, based on an estimated return period of 464 years.
Are oil spills increasing?
Decreasing Quantities of Oil Spilled ITOPF estimated that between 1970 and 2016 approximately 5.73 million tonnes of oil were lost as a result of tanker incidents. Since the mid-1980s, seaborne oil trade has been increasing while the number of oil spills is decreasing.