Word: reefs
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...tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in the sound on March 24 after filling its storage tanks with crude from the trans-Alaska pipeline. More than 10 million gallons of oil poured into the sound...
Until the Exxon Valdez hit a reef, these questions did not seem quite so urgent. But like the accident at a once obscure nuclear-power plant known as Three Mile Island, this single disaster could be the turning point for an entire industry. Says Alaska Governor Steve Cowper: "There's going to be a permanent change in the political chemistry of Alaska as a result of this tragedy. Most Alaskans are going to reassess their attitude toward oil and development in this state...
...report in the Anchorage Times last week, Hazelwood may have done more than just hand the ship over to an uncertified third mate, a serious enough lapse in itself. To change sea-lanes, he had set the ship on a course that pointed it toward treacherous Bligh Reef, the Times reported, then allegedly left it on autopilot without telling anyone. Thus, when the third mate realized he was headed for disaster and tried to steer the ship, he could...
...radar contact with the ship. The local newspaper, the Valdez Vanguard, reported that the Coast Guard two years ago replaced its radar with a less powerful unit. Had it maintained contact, the Coast Guard could have warned Cousins that he was straying close to the dangerous rocks of Bligh Reef...
...Safety Board, the accident was preceded by a series of commands that put the vessel a mile out of the shipping lanes and into harm's way. Cousins and finally Hazelwood, who had returned to the bridge, issued contradictory orders. Shortly after midnight, the tanker impaled itself on Bligh Reef, its hull torn by gashes, some thought to be 15 ft. wide. At least 240,000 bbl. of oil, equal to 10.1 million gal., poured out of the wounds...