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Story of the Exxon Valdez
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Photo courtesy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.
When the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in March 1989, it dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska’s Prince William Sound. It was and remains the largest oil spill in US history. It caused a huge ecological disaster. It killed many thousands of birds, fish and sea otters. It threatened the food chain for all marine creatures.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was only one of thousands of oil spills a year. The oil tanker shipwrecks are caused by many different things. Some of the causes of the oil tanker shipwrecks are groundings, collisions, fires and explosions, accidents when loading and unloading their cargo and hull failure. The Exxon Valdez shipwreck was due to the grounding of the ship in the Prince William Sound of Alaska.
Check that you understand what these words mean in this document Crude oil: the material from which we get petroleum as it comes out of the ground. Ecological: related to the environment Marine: related to the sea. Grounding: anaccident that happens when ships hit the shore. Collision: anaccident that happens when two objects hit each other with force. Hull failure: a problem with the part of the ship which is under the water.
