Essay Sample about The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

The Exxon Valdez oil spill is currently the second-largest oil spill in United States history. The ship was captained by Joseph Haselwood. The oil tanker left the port on March 23, 1989, at 9:12 p.m. When the Exxon tanker hit Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, oil started leaking from the holes in the ship. “On the evening of March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez left the port of Valdez, Alaska bound for long beach, California, with fifty-three million gallons of Prudhoe bay crude oil” (“Exxon Valdez oil spill”). The oil tanker never did make it to Long Beach, California, because it was grounded late at night on Alaska’s Bligh reef. This oil spill not only worried and upset people, but also disrupted ecosystems. "The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a man-made disaster… Exxon shipping company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989” (‘Exxon Valdez oil spill’). However, the vast majority of the oil (forty-two million gallons) stayed on board the Exxon Valdez until another Exxon tanker came and relieved the Exxon Valdez of the oil that remained on board.

There is an astonishing amount of oil spills, there have been 44 in California alone. “The Exxon oil slick covered 1,300 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, seals, and whales” (“Exxon Valdez oil spill). This oil spill harmed our environment greatly including the killing of hundreds of thousands of birds and sea animals. Apparently, captain, Joseph hazelwood was drunken even though there is no proof of this we do know that before boarding Hazelwood was drinking. 

Apparently, captain, Joseph hazelwood was drunk even though there is no proof of this we do know that before boarding Hazelwood was drinking. Joseph Hazelwood retired to his cabin at 9:25 pm. Exxon was fined one hundred fifty million dollars the largest amount ever charged for an environmental crime however, one hundred twenty-five million dollars of that one hundred fifty million dollars was forgiven because Exxon was incredibly cooperative with the clean-up associated with the oil spill. Exxon also paid two billion dollars in cleanup costs and one billion eight million dollars for habitat restoration. The captain got convicted for illegally spilling oil in pristine Alaska waters for punishment on the clean-up crew for community service. Although this was a tragedy, there could’ve been much done too if not prevent at least decrease the magnitude of the accident. 

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was arguably a preventable disaster because there were a lot of different decisions that different people made that not only caused the disaster but also compelled the catastrophe to be the magnitude that it was. The oil spill itself caused the decline of the Alaskan fishing industry because not only did the fish begin to die due to ingestion of oil but also they became unsafe to eat. The crew also played a vital part in the accident “On the night of March 23, there had been reports of icebergs in the sea lanes. To avoid them, the ship left the sea lanes. Later the ship failed to return the ship to its original route” (Benoit, 31). The captain also played a big role in the accident because he was believed to have been under the influence of alcohol.