Some days are Sunny, others are a B*tch

bCOF March 24

DAY 3323 March 24, 2022
March 24, 1989: One of the worst oil spills in U.S. history begins when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water. Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the environmental disaster.

It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990, Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. In July 1992, an Alaska court overturned Hazelwood’s conviction, citing a federal statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an oil spill.

Exxon itself was condemned by the National Transportation Safety Board and in early 1991 agreed under pressure from environmental groups to pay a penalty of $100 million and provide $1 billion over a 10-year period for the cost of the cleanup. However, later in the year, both Alaska and Exxon rejected the agreement, and in October 1991 the oil giant settled the matter by paying $25 million, less than 4 percent of the cleanup aid promised by Exxon earlier that year.


Citation Information :Exxon Valdez crashes, causing one of the worst oil spills in history
Author :History.com Editors


Do you think oil companies are held accountable enough? Do you think they should be allowed to renege on an agreement that affects us all as Exxon did in the Valdez situation? What can we do as citizens to show our anger with their actions and lack of accountability?
Big oil companies and other corporations have gotten away with bad environmental behavior for far too long for the profit of their shareholders. We only have this earth and we should be good stewards of its resources. I remember the reporting on this disaster and the pictures of dead fish and volunteers retying to clean animals with Dawn liquid soap. These beautiful creatures being suffocated by man’s negligence. If broke my heart. The leak in the Gulf of Mexico by BP was another example.