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In this episode we take a look back at one of the biggest environmental disasters of all time. The Exxon Valdez oil tanker hit the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989 and dumped 10.8 million gallons of oil into the water.   Prince William Sound was so remote that it could only be gotten too by boat or air, and that made getting to it in order to clean the spill up nearly impossible for Exxon and the Government.  The result was that the oil drifted everywhere, eventually covering 1300 miles of the coast affecting dramatically a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals , and various bird, and other wildlife. 

President Bush was forced to act as fast as possible to reverse the damage before it laid waste many of the natural resources Alaska needed to survive.  All of this tragedy was blamed on Captain Joseph Hazelwood who was accused of being drunk at the time of the accident. That proved to be untrue, and Hazelwood won a criminal case in 1990 ending that widely believed mythology. He was , in fact , not even on the bridge at the time of the accident.  He had not been drinking while on the job and the accusations stemmed from a DUI arrest he had received some 6 months earlier while off from work. 

Years later , Exxon was found to have been negligent in how it operated its supertankers.  Three factors would eventually be listed as the cause. They were :  (from Wikipedia) 

• Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the master (ship's captain) and provide a rested and sufficient crew for Exxon Valdez. The NTSB found this practice was widespread throughout the industry, prompting a safety recommendation to Exxon and to the industry.[13]
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• The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel, possibly due to fatigue or excessive workload.[13]
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• Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance System (RAYCAS) radar, which, if functional, would have indicated to the third mate an impending collision with the Bligh Reef by detecting the radar reflector placed on the next rock inland from Bligh Reef for the purpose of keeping ships on course. This cause was brought forward by Greg Palast and is not presented in the official accident report.[14]

It would be the Bush Administration that would supervise the clean up of the Sound, and implemented the reforms that helped make the oil industry far safer after the spill. This is that story, and the story of the nearly two decades of struggle for the Alaskans who had to try and pick up the pieces after the spill was over and the attention of the world had moved on. 

This show also discusses our host , Randal Wallace's own involvement in the debate over offshore drilling in the Carolinas, where he supported drilling for Natural Gas in an era before electric cars had so transformed the energy market in America.  

Questions or comments at , [email protected] , https://twitter.com/randal_wallace , and http://www.randalwallace.com/
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