Ramifications of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On Good Friday, March 24, 1989, Valdez, Alaska was thrust into the world spotlight as the tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef, spilling 10 million gallons of oil into the marine-life-rich waters of Prince William Sound (Gilson, 1989, p. 18).

The oil spill resulting when the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef was the worst in American maritime history. As the story unfolded, the public learned that the captain of the ship had apparently been drinking, that the third mate was in charge of the vessel at the time it struck the reef, and that safeguards which should have prevented such an accident existed, but were not operating the night of the accident ("In Ten Years..." 1989, p. 51). This paper examines the spill and its economic, political and environmental consequences.

The economic effects of the spill began almost immediately. The ship was named for the town of Valdez; the town developed as a result of the oil boom of the 1970s. Oil has been a part of Valdez for twenty years, and the spill brought an unexpected economic boom to an otherwise economically depressed area:

The billion-dollar cleanup has revitalized the state's economy, depressed by low oil prices, and brought its unemployment rate down from 10.9 percent two years ago to 6.1 percent in July . . . The Valdez population of 3,500 has at times swelled to over 15,000. Entrepreneurs sell everything from sex to 3 souv

. . .
illion per year (Mauer, 1989, p. A1). The tax loophole was eliminated with the support of Alaska's governor, Steve Cowper: Up until the spill, a large number of Alaskans were content to take industry statements at face value without questioning them. Since the spill, a lot of people have been looking at industry statements with a lot of skepticism (p. A26). During the months following the spill, the state returned to the regulation and approach it took during the 1970s, when it passed a great number of environmental legislation. Taxation policies at that time were designed so that some of the money the oil companies were taking from Alaska would be returned in the form of revenue. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was a shift away from proponents of big government in Alaska, and an increase in politicians who felt that the money would be better spent in the hands of private industry. Hence, the tax incentives. State Senator Tim Kelly, a Republican, considered himself among the pro-oil majority in the Alaska Senate until the spill. In an interview shortly after the spill, Mr. Kelly said, "they (the oil companies] are making billions of dollars in Alaska, but have nickled and dimed on the cleanup. I'm never going
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Satchell Carpenter, Stachell Carpenter, Valdez Hospital, William Sound, Alaska Senate, Bligh Reef, Steve Cowper, Exxon Valdez, Oil Valdez, A1 Numerous, carpenter 1989, oil spill, oil companies, exxon valdez, prince william, 1989 a1, effects spill, satchell carpenter, satchell carpenter 1989, 1989 september, york times a1, 1989 64, prince william sound, carpenter 1989 64, struck bligh reef,
Approximate Word count = 1916
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)