Could an Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Happen in Southern California?
Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling almost eleven million gallons of crude oil. It was the largest oil tanker spill in United States history. Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill both the oil industry and the federal and California state government were awakened to the destruction of oil spills. Since that time we have discovered that complacency has overshadowed post-Valdez stringency and is endangering our marine environment. In 1992 – using a model developed by the Department of the Interior it was predicted that there was a 94% likelihood of an Exxon Valdez type oil spill in southern California waters sometime within the next 30 years. In 1998, 704 tank vessels called on the Ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, carrying approximately 5.5 million barrels of oil through the area (302,500,000 gallons of oil). Each of these tankers can carry between 55,000 and 33 million gallons of oil – up to triple
