TROUBLE ON OILEDWATERS: Lessons from the Exxon Valdez Oil

0,58

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Spill

39

stron

6585

ID

University of Washington

1998

rok

ABSTRACT

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the largest in US maritime history. We review post-spill research and

set it in its legal context. The Exxon Corporation, obviously responsible for the spill, focused on

restoration, whereas the Trustees, a coalition of state and federal entities, focused on damage and

its assessment. Despite billions of dollars expended, little new understanding was gained about the

recovery dynamics of a high latitude marine ecosystem subject to an anthropogenic pulse

perturbation. We discuss a variety of case studies that highlight the limitations to and shortcomings

of the research effort. Given that more spills are inevitable, we recommend that future studies

address spatial patterns in the intertidal, and focus on the abundances of long-lived species and on

organisms that preserve a chronological record of growth. Oil spills, while tragic, represent

opportunities to gain insight into the dynamics of marine ecosystems and should not be wasted