Word: spill
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...tanker and turning control over to an unqualified mate. SKIPPER WAS DRUNK, screamed the New York Post. "I was just trying to scrape some ice off the reef for my margarita," chortled comedian David Letterman, suggesting one of Hazelwood's "Top Ten Excuses" for the spill...
...doubts have arisen about many of the purported facts surrounding the spill and the role of Hazelwood, who faces up to twelve years in prison if convicted of the criminal charges pending against him in Alaska. A two-month TIME investigation of the accident has unveiled a wider web of accountability in which Exxon and the Coast Guard appear to share some of the blame for the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. As the Valdez's captain, Hazelwood will bear the ultimate responsibility for the spill. But whether he was drunk or sober, his actions were not the only...
...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...
...Valdez was singled out for a prestigious company award for "safety and performance." Nevertheless, he was increasingly disillusioned with his career, largely for reasons ranging from longer work hours and frozen pay levels to the growing powerlessness of captains to make their own judgments. A week before the oil spill, Hazelwood told a friend that he was thinking about taking a job as a harbor pilot on the Columbia River in Oregon...