Period+1+-+Exxon-Valdez

= __**Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill**__=

__**The Accident**__

On March 24, 1989 a very detrimental environmental disaster occurred off of the Prince William Sound in Alaska. In the evening of March 23th the Exxon-Valdez was in route to Washington captained by Joe Hazelwood. Around 11 pm Hazelwood departed from the control room, this is said to be about the time that the accident occurred. It has been said that Hazelwood was under the influence of alcohol during the time of the incident. And at around 12 in the morning the ship struck the Bligh Reef. The ship had been carrying somewhere around 10.8 million gallons of oil. The oil eventually cover 11,000 square miles of the ocean Although it is farther down on the list of largest oil spills, it was still very detrimental to the environment in Alaska. This was one of the more difficult clean-ups due to remote location, which was only accessible by helicopter and boat.

http://www.valdezlink.com/evos/media-rdn/exxon_valdez_.jpg

__**The Clean-up**__

The first clean-ups were with the use of dispersants. A dispersant is surfactant and solvent mixture. During the first efforts there was not enough wave movements to make the dispersant effective. Other methods were the use of mechanical techniques, such as skimmers and booms, but because they were not readily available right after the accident, it made using them ineffective. 11,000 Alaskan citizens all participated in the clean-up, and Exxon was very criticized for their lack of effort in the clean up. Due to the Prince William Sound's rocky coast line and large amounts of coves, the use of high pressure hot water was needed to displace it. But although this helped displaced the oil, it destroyed many of the microbial organisms such as plankton. These are the foundations of the ecosystem in this area.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/silverbeam/A%20CSM%20Blog/exxon_valdez.jpg

__**The Effects**__

There have been many long term and short terms effects due to the oil spill. thousands of animals were killed instantly. Aside from this, there were long term effects on the animals as well, such as stunted growth in pink salmon populations, and other noticeable reductions in animal populations have been noticed.

List of Animals killed
 * 250,000-500,000 seabirds
 * 1000 sea otters
 * 12 sea otters
 * 22 orca's
 * 250 bald eagles
 * 300 harbor seals
 * Destruction of billions of salmon and herring eggs.

http://eco-beat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/06-26-valdez2.jpg A DEAD WHALE ON THE COAST OF LATOUCHA ISLAND, ALASKA

__EXXON-VALDEZ OIL SPILL__

__CAUSES:__ 
 * Captain was trying to avoid hitting ice, so the vessel strayed out of normal shipping lanes.
 * The vessel was not turning sharply enough, so the vessel then struck Bligh Reef.
 * Captain Hazelwood was intoxicated.

__MAJOR DETAILS__
 * Largest oil tanker spill in the United States
 * Due to a navigation error the Exxon-Valdez scraped against the reef Prince Williams's Blighe
 * Spilled 10.9 million gallons of crude oil (the tanker carried 53 million gallons)
 * 1,100 miles of coastline was covered or affected
 * The cleanup took more time and money than any other spill in the US at any point in time
 * 11,000 workers helped to clean up the spill which started in April
 * Scientists are still studying the effects the largest spill in the US has had on the environment




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