Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Essay -- essays research papers

Exxon Valdez Oil buttonABSTRACT     In shew of 1989, the Exxon Valdez inunct tanker ran aground on Bligh Reefin Prince William Sound, Alaska. An eighteen foot wide hole was ripped into thehull, and 10.9 jillion gallons of crude rock oil spilled into the ocean. In thefollowing weeks, many things transpired. This paper testament discuss the kill,the damage, and the results of the biggest oil spill in United States history.     On March 24, 1989, in Prince William Sound Alaska, the Exxon Valdez wasmoving South West after sledding Port Valdez. The ship was carrying all over fifty one million million million gallons of crude oil. When the Valdez was single twenty-eight miles fromthe port, it ran aground on Bligh reef. The bottom was ripped open, and 10.9million gallons of North ramp Crude Oil spilled into the frozen Alaskan watersat a rate of two hundred thousand gallons per minute. The remaining forty-twomillion gallons were off loaded. In the ensuing days, more than 1,200 miles ofshoreline were hit with oil. This bea include four National Wildlife Refugees,three National Parks, and Chugach National Forest.     Within time of days, little tanker vessels arrived in order to off load theremaining oil. Unfortunately, the cleanup effort was hindered by an inadequatecleanup plan that had been created during the 1970s. These plans outlined howan oil spill would be handled, including provisions for maintaining equipmentsuch as containment booms and "skimmer boats." The plans in addition called for aresponse team to be on twenty-four hour nonice. Unfortunately, the plans weregood on paper only. A spill of this size had not been anticipated. Therefore,the response teams had been demobilized, and the equipment that was supposed tobe ready at all generation was either too far away or nonexistent.. Precious hourswere to a fault wasted as Corporations, the Alaskan State Government, and the Na tionalgovernment argued over who should take control of the situation. The argumentsensued after debates over who would pay for what, who was responsible for what,and who would do the best job.     The local fishermen were a big help with the cleanup effort. Theybattled with the oil in order to protect their industry. Many fisherman wereseen in row-boats in the small coastal inlets. The fishermen work... ...industry in Alaska, so there has beenmuch attention over the welfare of the fish. Many natives also live bysubsistence fishing. beg salmon and herring were the two species that spatewere most concerned about. go salmon is the biggest commercial fish inAlaskan waters, many people were afraid that the salmon population would needyears to recover, however, studies have shown that the exertion of the oil onspawning, eggs, and fry was negligible. Chromatography tests have also shownthat there are no hydrocarbons in the flesh of most of the fish. Those that do have hydrocarbons in their flesh have a level that is so low as to be measuredin the parts per billion range. Herring is also a huge commercial fish inAlaska. The 1988 catch yielded dozen point three million dollars. In 1989,after the spill, herring was state "off limits" to fishermen. However, thiswas compensated by a salmon catch that was 6 times as big as it had been in1988. In 1990, when herring fishing resumed, it returned to normal levels. Thedamage to the fishing industry was not around as bad as had been anticipated.Usha Varanasi, director of the NOAAs Environmental Conservation variableness in S