Word: agrounder
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...Nearly four months after the spill, there is no proof that Hazelwood was drunk when his ship ran aground. In fact, his crewmates claim he was not. A test given about ten hours after the grounding found that his blood-alcohol level was a little more than half the 0.1% drunk-driving limit set by the state of Alaska and 50% higher than the 0.04% limit set by the Coast Guard for seamen operating a moving ship. Some toxicologists have suggested that Hazelwood may have had a severely high 0.22% blood-alcohol level when the ship struck the reef...
...Despite early criticism of Hazelwood's conduct, the Coast Guard maintains that his handling of the ship after it ran aground was exemplary. Not only did he help prevent the oil spill from being even worse, but his actions may have saved lives as well. By adjusting the engine power, the captain was able to keep the vessel stable and pressed firmly against the reef...
...miles, pilotage endorsements were no longer mandatory after a vessel passed a certain point in the sound. But the point at which the new rule applied is unclear. The Coast Guard argues that only certified officers could command ships down to the Bligh Reef area, where the Valdez ran aground. Hazelwood's attorneys insist that the point of freedom was the established pilot station at Rocky Point, some seven miles north of the reef. Hazelwood's position appears to be bolstered by a 1986 memo from Alaska Maritime Agencies, a Valdez shipping agency that serviced Exxon. That memo states that...
...Delaware, where the Uruguayan tanker Presidente Rivera ran aground and spilled 300,000 gals. of heavy No. 6 oil, about 70% had been cleaned up. The smallest of the spills, which occurred when a barge collided with a cargo ship in the Houston Ship Channel and released 250,000 gals. of heavy crude, was almost completely recovered. Nature cooperated: high winds blew most of the petroleum into an industrial channel where it could be scooped up easily...
...Uruguayan tanker Presidente Rivera, en route to Marcus Hook, Pa., was loaded with 28 million gal. of medium-heavy oil when it ran aground in the Delaware. While the spill was conspicuous, the Coast Guard's marine-safety office in Philadelphia moved quickly. Cleanup crews surrounded it with booms and began pumping the remaining oil in the ship's tanks into barges in order to limit the damage. The fast response was heartening. But the U.S. really needs a way of preventing more spills...