Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Case Study

In late March of 1989, an oil tanker by the name of Exxon Valdez spilled between eleven and 38 million gallons of oil into the Prince William Sound in Alaska. This spill was caused by various influential factors, but perhaps one of the most important would be Exxon Shipping Company’s inability to oversee the condition of the crew, leading to a fatigued navigator who led the vessel astray, which resulted in the massive spill. This oil, which is, of course, hazardous to living creatures, resulted in the death of an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 otters, 250 bald eagles, 300 harbor seals, up to 22 killer whales, and billions of bird and fish eggs. Although some of these species have completely recovered from the incident, others continue to feel the impact to this day.
These methods included hot water treatment, high pressure cold water treatment, mechanical cleanup, and bioremediation. Overall, this cleanup effort cost $2.1 million, a cost which may have been easily avoided if Exxon Shipping Company simply would have spent a little bit more to take more proficient safety precautions. Although it is obvious that it would be heavily preferred that the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill incident had never occurred, it did aid in leading to the creation and passing of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. In addition to this, it has allowed for observation of and research on a marine ecosystem’s response to an oil spill, and how it is able to recover. In this specific situation, the ecosystem has had some significant biological changes, such as warming water, receding ice, and a decline in various fish and mammal species. Another positive outcome of this disaster it the ability to try various cleanup methods, such as the ones listed previously, and observe which are most