Marine_Oil_Spills

Marine Oil Spills Marine Oil Spills With the massive Persian Gulf War oil spill of January 1991 and the Exxon Valdez spill of March 1989, public attention focused on this recurring environmental disaster. Are such massive oil spills more common today, and just how damaging are these spills to the environment' Oil spills are nothing new. The recent Persian Gulf oil well spill, last estimated at 68 million gallons by the International Maritime Organization, may be smaller than a 1983 oil spill in the Gulf of approximately 80 million gallons that occurred during the Iran Iraq War. The largest spill yet occurred in 1979 when about 147 million gallons of oil gushed from an offshore well platform in the Gulf of Mexico. In comparison, the Exxon Valdez tanker spill, although considered massive, totaled only about 7.5 percent of this amount or 11 million gallons. Worldwide, the general trend may be improving or. Data from the Oil Spill Intelligence Report, which tracks oil spills worldwide, show a decline in the total volume of oil spilled from 1978 through 1980 compared to 1981 through 1990. The number of mega spills (greater than 10 million gallons) has also decreased, with 15 reported during the first 3 marine, oil, spill, spills, ocean, spilled, valdez, percent, million, gallons, exxon, about, technique, shoreline, report, national, large, gulf, after, years, water, very, toxic, tanker, sea, response, pollution, organisms, oiled, natural, massive, however, environmental, during, dispersants, although