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The Impact and Cost of an Oil Accident

Eleven million gallons of oil were spilled in March 1989 when the Exxon Valdez,a large supertanker, ran aground off Alaska’s coast. Although only the 53^rd largest oil spill at the time, it spread out to cover 1,300 miles of shoreline, killed about 250,000 birds and 2,800 sea otters, reduced fish and shellfish stocks, and wiped out a considerable part of the intertidal and subtidal flora and fauna. Eleven years later, the spill’s ecological and economic effects are still very much in sight, although some of the effected species and habitats have partially recovered. Exxon spent more than US$2.1 billion in cleanup costs, but only 14 per cent of the spilled oil was recovered. It is paying US$1 billion in civil and criminal fines, and has been ordered to pay a further US$5 billion in punitive damages to local fishermen, native hunters and others.