| Safeguarding
the Seas
Stopping
the pollution of our oceans by ships and fast ferries and preventing
deadly collisions with whales
Oil
Spills: Preventing Another Exxon Valdez Disaster
On March 24, 1989, one
of the greatest environmental disasters ever recorded in US waters
occurred. Just after midnight, the Exxon Valdez, a 987-foot supertanker,
struck Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, dumping nearly
11 million gallons of oil into the water. Some sources in Alaska
believe that the actual number of gallons spilled to be as much
as three times higher. The spill spread nearly 500 miles, and
oil washed up on approximately 1,300 miles of pristine shoreline.
The death toll was staggering: 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters,
300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales, and
billions of salmon and herring eggs were smothered in oil and
destroyed. As of the summer of 2001, 20 acres of shoreline in
Prince William Sound were still contaminated with oil.
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In the wake of the disaster, Congress
enacted the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) designed to prevent
another such ecological catastrophe in US waters. Congress mandated
that the Coast Guard enforce new standards for the transportation
of oil, including the requirement of a double-tug escort in
sensitive waterways and the installation of leak detection devices
on all oil tankers. OPA gave the Coast Guard one year to complete
this assignment. Yet to date, the Coast Guard has failed to
fully implement the law.
In 1999, Bluewater Network took the lead in compelling the Coast
Guard to live up its responsibility. After testifying before
Congress on US Guard's failure to comply with OPA, Bluewater
Network filed suit against the agency and won. The judge's remarks
to the Coast Guard were scathing. Federal Chief Edwards wrote:
"We are here faced with a clear statutory mandate, a deadline
nine-years ignored, and an agency that has admitted its continuing
recalcitrance." The court ordered the Coast Guard to immediately
begin implementing the leak detection device provision, and
to accept proposals to designate additional waters as "sensitive"
for the purposes of the two-tug escort provision.
Bluewater Network continues the effort to force the Coast Guard
to fully implement OPA, as well as to develop other technological
and operational requirements to reduce the likelihood of oil
spills in our sensitive marine habitats.
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the Latest News
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Read our Growing List of Victories:
2001
Through precedent-setting legal action, Bluewater Network forces
the US Coast Guard to require leak detection equipment on oil
tankers.
Read
the Following to Learn More:
Map
of Post-OPA Oil Spills: map highlighting
oil spills in US waterways after the enactment of the Oil Protection
Act of 1990 (OPA)
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