Word: crude
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...that assumption has been shattered, perhaps irreparably, by the 10 million gal. of oil that have poured from the Exxon Valdez since it went off course and ran aground in Prince William Sound in late March. By last week the thick, tarry crude had spread into a slick that covered 1,600 sq. mi. of water, fouling 800 miles of shoreline in one of the world's richest wildlife areas. In the wake of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, Alaskans are in shock. Said Dennis Kelso, the state's environment commissioner: "People are going to have strong feelings...
...director of the Oceanic Society, predicts that the oil deposits on the bottom will act "as lethal time-release capsules," turning loose "harmful petroleum hydrocarbons for months and even years." Birds, fish and marine animals such as seals and otters that are not killed quickly by being coated with crude will still be in danger, as the bottom oil contaminates first microorganisms, then the small fish that eat them, then the larger creatures up the food chain. Fishermen in the port of Cordova (pop. 3,000) fear that their catches of salmon, herring, shrimp and crab will be ruined...
VALDEZ, Alaska--The captain of the Exxon Valdez surrendered to police yesterday, and salvage crews freed the tanker from the reef that ripped its hull and spilled more than 10 million gallons of crude...
...struck last week, on the very day that the 3,100 residents of Valdez had planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of another disaster: the great Alaska earthquake of 1964, which sent a towering tidal wave smashing into Valdez, killing 131 people. After taking on 1.2 million bbl. of crude at the Valdez terminal, the southern end of the 800-mile Trans- Alaska Pipeline, the 987-ft. tanker Exxon Valdez headed out through Prince William Sound. Maneuvering to avoid icebergs, the tanker rammed into an ; underwater shoal called Bligh Reef. The vessel's side split open and thick North Slope...
...threat to local marine life quickly became apparent. As oil gushed out at the rate of 20,000 gal. an hour, emergency teams found ducks coated with crude and sea lions with flippers drenched in oil clinging to a buoy near the wreck. By the time the leak had slowed to a dribble a day later, an estimated 270,000 bbl. of oil had escaped, producing a slick 8 miles long and 4 miles wide. It appeared to be the largest spill, if not the worst in terms of ecological damage, in U.S. history...