When was exxon valdez oil spill

An Iranian oil tanker, the Sanchi, lost , tons of highly toxic natural gas condensate. None of Sanchi 's 32 crew members survived.

By far the biggest accidental spill into the ocean was from the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. At 35, feet, it was the deepest well ever drilled until the blow out that killed 11 workers. Over nearly 90 days the broken well pumped , tons approximately 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.

Marine oil spill containment and recovery technology improved tremendously after the Valdez, but not much has changed for at least the last decade, the experts say. Spills can be located faster and their movements modelled more accurately, but full containment and cleanup remains, impossible Michel said. It can also be difficult to prevent an undersea oil well from leaking.

More and more oil drilling is being done offshore in deepwater off the U. Last year, the Trump administration proposed opening up far more offshore areas to drilling. All rights reserved. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets.

India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country.

Epic floods leave South Sudanese to face disease and starvation. Travel 5 pandemic tech innovations that will change travel forever These digital innovations will make your next trip safer and more efficient. But will they invade your privacy? Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city. Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. It was the worst oil spill in U. The Exxon Valdez oil slick covered 1, miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, seals and whales.

Nearly 30 years later, pockets of crude oil remain in some locations. 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. At the time, it was the largest single oil spill in U.

Initial attempts to contain the oil failed, and in the months that followed, the oil slick spread, eventually covering about 1, miles of coastline.

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.

In March , Hazelwood was acquitted of felony charges. In the months after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Exxon employees, federal responders and more than 11, Alaska residents worked to clean up the oil spill. 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. 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.

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. Prince William Sound had been a pristine wilderness before the spill. The Exxon Valdez disaster dramatically changed all of that, taking a major toll on wildlife. It killed an estimated , sea birds, 3, otters, seals, bald eagles and 22 killer whales.

The oil spill also may have played a role in the collapse of salmon and herring fisheries in Prince William Sound in the early s. Fishermen went bankrupt, and the economies of small shoreline towns, including Valdez and Cordova, suffered in the following years.

A study found oil contamination remaining at more than half of the 91 beach sites tested in Prince William Sound. The spill had killed an estimated 40 percent of all sea otters living in the Sound. Stocks of herring, once a lucrative source of income for Prince William Sound fisherman, have never fully rebounded. In the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the U.

Bush signed into law that year. The Oil Pollution Act of increased penalties for companies responsible for oil spills and required that all oil tankers in United States waters have a double hull. Here are some of the most startling statistics about the effects of the Exxon Valdez spill on marine wildlife , fisheries and the region's economy: The amount of oil spilled could fill Olympic-sized swimming pools. As many as 2, sea otters , harbor seals, bald eagles and , seabirds died in the days following the disaster.

The cleanup required about 10, workers, 1, boats and roughly airplanes and helicopters. Four deaths were directly associated with cleanup efforts. Tourism spending decreased by eight percent in south central Alaska and by 35 percent in southwest Alaska in the year after the spill. Many fish populations were harmed during the spill. For example, sand lance populations went down in and , herring returns were significantly fewer in and and adult fish had high rates of viral infections.