The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
A number of events have influenced American attitudes toward oil production and use. One of the most notable occurred in March 1989, when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit a reef in Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. The cleanup cost Exxon $1.28 billion, which does not include legal costs or any valuation of the wildlife lost. The spill was an environmental disaster for a formerly pristine area. Even measures used to clean up the spill, such as washing the beaches with hot water, caused additional damage.
The Exxon Valdez spill also led to debate about added safety measures in the design of tankers. Tankers are bigger than ever before. In 1945 the largest tanker held 16,500 tons of oil; today, supertankers carry more than 550,000 tons. These supertankers are difficult to maneuver because of their size and are likely to spill more oil if damaged. Although there have been fewer spills since 1973, the amount of oil lost has been roughly the same.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990
The Exxon Valdez oil spill led Congress to pass the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (PL 101–380) after having debated the issue for sixteen years. The bill increased, but still limited, oil spillers' federal liability (financial responsibility) as long as a spill is not the result of "gross negligence." The bill also mandates compensation to those who are economically injured by oil-spill accidents. Damages that can be charged to oil companies are limited to $60 million for tanker accidents and $75 million for accidents at offshore facilities. The rest of the cleanup costs are paid from a $500 million oil-spill fund generated by a 1.3 cents-per-barrel tax on oil. Individual states still maintain the right to impose unlimited liability on spillers. Oil companies were also required to phase in double hulls on oil vessels over a twenty-five-year period by 2015. Double hulls provide an extra container in case of accidents.
Accidents Still Occur Worldwide
In mid-November 2002 the twenty-six-year-old, single-hulled tanker Prestige was first damaged, then sank in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain. The Spanish government estimates the ship spilled approximately 5,000 tons of heavy fuel oil when it was damaged and an additional 12,000 tons as it sank. The ship continued to leak, and the Spanish authorities ordered the leaking vessel to be towed to the open ocean. As of mid-2004 an international team of scientists estimated that the oil spilled from the Prestige caused the deaths of nearly 250,000 seabirds. The spill also killed unknown numbers of fish and dolphins, and was responsible for economic damage to the Galician fish and shellfish industries, closing the Spanish coastline to fishing.
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