Exxon Valdez

Although the pipeline from the North Slope to the port of Valdez was the route chosen and completed in 1977, the scientific community preferred the trans-Alaska-Canada route its use would have prevented the Exxon Valdez ianker accident of 1989. 

Some environmentalists anticipated a major accident like that of the Exxon Valdez. When plaiiiiing for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline took place during the energy crisis of the early 1970s, it was controversial because of the conflicts of balancing the needs of oil... 

Exxon Valdez runs aground off the Alaska coast. 

In any industrial facility, from offices to factories and laboratories, spills happen and create a variety of risks to workers. Inside a plant, spills result in chemicals on the floor, in the air, or on the workers themselves. When releases occur outside the plant (e.g., chemical releases from tank cars or trucks, the spread of noxious fumes from an internal spill), the potential for harm extends far beyond the facility, particularly with major catastrophes such as the Bhopal chemical release, the Exxon Valdez oil spill. New York s Love Canal, and dioxin-contaminated Times Beach in Missouri, have led several federal departments and agencies to enact protective regulations. These protections are aimed at protecting a much broader range of people, property, and the environment than most regulations administered by OSHA. 

Roy, N.K., Stabile, J., and Seeb, J.E. et al. (1999). High frequency of K-ras mutations in pink salmon embryos exposed to Exxon Valdez oil. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 18, 1521-1528. 

Renner R (2006) Exxon Valdez oil no longer a threat Environ Sci Technol 40 6188-6189. 

Sugai SF, JE Limndstrom, JF Braddock (1997) Environmental influences on the microbial degradation of Exxon Valdez oil on the shorelines of Prince William Sound, Alaska. Environ Sci Technol 31 1564-1572. 

Lessons Learned from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Field, Fall, Nighswander, Peacock, Varanasi, editors 1999... 

Tank vessel Exxon Valdez 03-24-89 Bligh Reef, Prince William Sound, Alaska 240,500... 

Ironically, despite all this scientific progress, modern fiberoptic cables went into service during a decade of chemical catastrophes more reminiscent of the old Leblanc factories than of optical fibers superpurity. On December 3, 1984, a cloud of deadly methylisocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India the gas killed more than 3000 people and injured up to 25,000. Two years later in Europe, a Sandoz chemical factory spilled 30 tons of chemicals into the Rhine River, killing fish for 120 miles downstream. In North America, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled crude oil over 1000 miles of Alaskan coastline in 1989. 

Shigenaka, G. and Henry, C.B. Jr. 1995, Use of Mussels and Semipermeable Membrane Devices To Assess Bioavailability of Residual Polynuclear Aromatic Hydrocarbons Three Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. In Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Fate and Effects in Alaskan Waters Wells, P.G., Butler, J.N., Hughes, J.S, Eds. American Society for Testing and Materials Philadelphia, PA. pp. 239-260. 

Short,]. W. Maselko, J. M. Llndeberg, M. R. Harris, P. M. Rice, S. D. Vertical Distribution and Probability of Encountering Intertidal Exxon Valdez Oil on Shorelines of Three Embayments within Prince William Sound, Alaska. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006, 40, 3723-3729. 

The other source of water pollution is toxic chemicals, of which the chemical and petroleum industries are a major source. The oil spiU from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska and the methyl isocyanate release from Bhopal, India, are the most widely known examples. Here the overall problem is that chemicals are released that are not normally found in nature, and consequently plants and animals have no defenses against them. 

Description Petroleum resulting from oil spills often pollutes water bodies. Large-scale accidents are also an important cause of pollution along shore lines. The most well-known example is the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 

Sleep deprivation was determined to play a role in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster, the 1986 decision to launch the Space Shuttle Challenger which exploded shortly after takeoff, and numerous deadly commercial airline crashes. 

Table 4.7. Effectiveness of the bioremediation treatment of cobblestone beaches following the Exxon Valdez oil spill...

Button, D. K., Robertson, B. R., McIntosh, D. Juttner, F. (1992). Interactions between marine bacteria and dissolved-phase and beached hydrocarbons after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 58, 243-51. 

Lindstrom, J. E., Prince, R. C., Clark, J.C., Grossman, M.J., Yeager, T. R., Brown, J. F. Brown, E. J. (1991). Microbial populations and hydrocarbon biodegradation potential in fertilized shoreline sediments affected by the t/v Exxon Valdez oil spill. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 57, 2514-22. 

Prince, R. C. (1992). Bioremediation of oil spills, with particular reference to the spill from the Exxon Valdez. In Microbial Control of Pollution, ed. J. C. Fry, G. M. Gadd, R. A. Herbert, C. W. Jones I. A. Watson-Craik, pp. 5-34. Cambridge Cambridge University Press. 

Pritchard, P. H., Mueller, J. G., Rogers, J. C., Kremer, F. V. Glaser, J. A. (1992). Oil spill bioremediation experiences, lessons and results from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Biodegradation, 3, 315-35. 

---