Drill, baby, drill - Exxon Valdez 20 years on
March 24th, 1989.
The Exxon Valdez, a US oil tanker, owned by the Exxon Corporation, hits a reef off the coast of Alaska and spills an estimated 40 million liters of crude oil.
Wikipedia’s page on the Exxon Valdez oil spill is pretty complete,
“Thousands of animals died immediately; the best estimates include 250,000 to as many as 500,000 seabirds, at least 1,000 sea otters, approximately 12 river otters, 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles, and 22 orcas, as well as the destruction of billions of salmon and herring eggs. Due to a thorough cleanup, little visual evidence of the event remained in areas frequented by humans just 1 year later. However, the effects of the spill continue to be felt today. Overall reductions in population have been seen in various ocean animals, including stunted growth in pink salmon populations. Sea otters and ducks also showed higher death rates in following years, partially because they ingested prey from contaminated soil and from ingestion of oil residues on hair due to grooming.
Almost 20 years after the spill, a team of scientists at the University of North Carolina found that the effects are lasting far longer than expected. The team estimates some shoreline habitats may take up to 30 years to recover. Exxon Mobil denies any concerns over this, stating that they anticipated a remaining fraction that they assert will not cause any long-term ecological impacts, according to the conclusions of 350 peer-reviewed studies.However, a study from scientists from NOAA concluded that this contamination can produce chronic low-level exposure, discourage subsistence where the contamination is heavy, and decrease the "wilderness character” of the area.“
What is disturbing is that even today there is evidence that Exxon has been editing the page to downplay the consequences of the accident
Although this incident is one of the most recognized environmental accidents on record, it is by far not the most devastating or even the largest spill on record . The Prestige oil spill , off the coast of Galicia in 2002 was, by some estimates, even worse.
Time magazine has an article on the 20th "anniversary” of the incident
“Alaskans like Colburn are worried that on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Valdez accident, the spill and its toll are in danger of being forgotten — even as new offshore oil and gas exploration is being considered in Alaska. In 2007, former President George W. Bush ended a long-standing executive ban on offshore oil drilling in Bristol Bay in the southeastern waters of the Bering Sea, potentially opening up what’s been called America’s "fish basket” to the fossil fuels industry. Although the Obama Administration has slowed the process, it hasn’t stopped it — and Alaska’s Republican Gov. Sarah Palin would be happy to “drill, baby, drill,” especially as the declining price of oil diminishes state revenues.“
20 years on, are in forgetting the lessons of the Exxon Valdez?