Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Causes, Cleanup, and Violations
This paper examines the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, which released at least 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, and remained the largest oil spill in U.S. history until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The paper outlines the five contributing causes identified by the National Transportation Safety Board, describes the unprecedented cleanup operation involving over 11,000 personnel, and identifies the federal agencies that coordinated the response. It also explores the regulatory violations committed by Exxon in the years leading up to the disaster, including concealed evidence of prior spills, a broken radar system left unrepaired, and disputed estimates of the total volume of oil released.
- Introduction: Overview of the Exxon Valdez disaster and its significance
- Summary of the Disaster: NTSB findings on the five contributing causes
- Corrective Actions: Cleanup operations and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
- Agencies Involved in the Response: Federal and state agencies coordinating the cleanup
- Regulatory Violations and Standards: Exxon's concealed evidence, broken radar, and disputed spill volume
- Conclusion: Oil industry impunity and lessons unlearned
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper draws on a range of credible sources — including the EPA, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration, the NTSB, and investigative journalists — to build a multi-dimensional account of the disaster.
- It moves logically from cause to response to accountability, giving the reader a clear narrative arc while covering distinct analytical categories (agencies, violations, corrective actions).
- The inclusion of disputed figures — such as the contested 11-million-gallon estimate — demonstrates critical engagement with sources rather than passive acceptance of official accounts.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper uses direct quotation strategically, embedding cited passages from primary and secondary sources to substantiate specific claims. Each quoted block is contextualized before and after, showing the writer's ability to integrate evidence rather than merely reproduce it. This technique is especially effective in the regulatory violations section, where Palast's investigative findings are introduced, quoted, and then interpreted within the paper's broader argument about systemic corporate misconduct.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized into five labeled sections — Summary, Corrective Actions, Agencies Involved, Violated Regulations/Standards, and Conclusion — preceded by a brief introduction. Each section addresses a discrete aspect of the disaster, allowing for focused analysis within each unit. The conclusion synthesizes the case into a broader argument about the oil industry's relationship with regulation, connecting the Exxon Valdez case to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill.
Introduction
Few environmental disasters are as well-known or conjure as immediate a memory as the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. Until the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, this was the single largest oil-spill disaster in U.S. history. It remains, even today, a significant determinant of the ecological realities that define the Alaskan coastline where the Exxon tanker ran aground. As the discussion below will show, the disaster was marked by a series of irregularities, regulatory oversights, and sheer carelessness on the part of Exxon and its crew. These factors converged to create one of the most challenging environmental response and cleanup efforts known to date. The discussion that follows describes those efforts as well as the corrective actions taken to redress the disaster, the agencies that participated in the response, and the regulatory violations that made such a disaster all but inevitable.
Summary of the Disaster
According to Cleveland (2010), on March 24, 1989, the tanker named the Exxon Valdez departed from Valdez, Alaska, headed for Southern California carrying 53 million gallons of crude oil. The tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound just off the coast of Alaska and, according to Cleveland, emptied at least 11 million gallons of oil into the ocean in the space of just six hours. Affecting roughly 1,100 miles of Alaskan coastline, the event had devastating implications for the marine life, wildlife, and human communities in the region.
The causes of the accident were assessed in an initial investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which reported five likely contributing causes to the grounding. Cleveland reports the NTSB's findings as follows: "(1) The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue and excessive workload; (2) the master failed to provide a proper navigation watch, possibly due to impairment from alcohol; (3) Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the master and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez; (4) the U.S. Coast Guard failed to provide an effective vessel traffic system; and (5) effective pilot and escort services were lacking." (Cleveland, p. 1)
Works Cited
Bluemink, E. (2010). Size of Exxon spill remains disputed. Anchorage Daily News.
Cleveland, C. (2010). Exxon Valdez oil spill. The Encyclopedia of Earth.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2011). Exxon Valdez. EPA.gov.
ExxonMobil. (2010). The Valdez oil spill. Exxonmobil.com.
Leveson, N. G. (2005). Software system safety. MIT.edu.
Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). (2008). Exxon Valdez oil spill. NOAA National Ocean Service.
Palast, G. (2008). Court rewards Exxon for Valdez oil spill. Gregpalast.com.
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