Exxon Spill of 1989

In May 24, 1989, The Exxon Valdez crashed into Bligh Reef and caused 11 million gallons of oil to spill in the ocean.  The spill covered about 1,300 miles of coastline after a storm past and caused all the oil to move around and to get stuck on the coast of Prince William Sound in Alaska. The reason why the ship crashed was because the captain of the ship left to go drink and left an inexperience third mate go and drive the ship. Trying to move past ice in the water they tried to travel through the Bligh Reef. Since the third mate couldn't make the turn fast enough the ship crashed. The single hull ship design was a big flow since it meant one breach and all the oil would be able to escape onto the ocean. After months of cleaning and 2.5 billion dollars worth of "restoring the coast line" Exxon was held responsible for the mess and the hundreds of thousand wild life lives that were lost. Today there are still traces of the oil spill that can be found. In certain sights if you can dig deep enough there is still oil. Also less than half the wildlife has been restored almost 31 years later after the incident. The Oil Pollution act of 1990 caused the retirement of single hull oil tankers and harsher penalties for companies that causes oils spills in the ocean.