The Exxon Valdez Oil Pollution Act (OPA)

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The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) was created in 1990 in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred on March 24, 1989 in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, which spilled more than 11 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into the Pacific. OPA was enacted by 101st United State Congress and signed by George H. W. Bush. This accident was considered one of the largest oil spill in U.S. coastal water of the time and it prompted the U.S. government to make better and stricter regulations for oil spill accidents.
According to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, they claimed that the Exxon Valdez oil spill impacted about 1,300 miles of shoreline from the Bligh reef to the village of Chignik on the Alaska Peninsula. Furthermore, Exxon claim that they spent about $2.1 billion dollars in efforts to the clean up the ocean. It took about 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats, about 100 airplanes and helicopters, and 4 summers in order to clean the spill. However, some of the oil still remain the beaches today.
Oil spills are a major problem to the environment because they damage aquatic ecosystems and kill animals such as birds and fish that live within the waters. Mangrove and salt marshes ecosystems are most vulnerable in these situations because the roots of the mangrove trees are exposed to the oil causing their lenticels to become …show more content…

This includes damages to the environment, and damages experienced by third parties. Under the National Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, there’s about $1 billion that can be used to help with the restoration and cleaning of the oil spill. This is beneficial because it can ensure that there is enough money for the federal government to assist with the accident as soon as possible. By doing so, this limits and prevents the amount of pollution from spreading throughout the

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