Oil Spills
Increasing U.S. dependence on oil imports heightens risks to environment
By Mary H. Cooper

Calamitous oil spills in recent years have focused attention on the devastation the world's leading energy source can wreak on the environment. In Alaska, the 1989 grounding of the supertanker Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound caused the worst U.S. oil spill ever and prompted Congress to pass stringent oil-pollution legislation. In the Persian Gulf, “ecoterrorism” committed by Iraqi. . . .

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Is $1 billion sufficient payment for the Exxon Corp.'s role in the Exxon Valdez oil spill?

Charles E. Cole Attorney General for the State of Alaska.. From a statement before the House Budget Committee's Task Force on Urgent Fiscal Issues, Oct. 31, 1991.	David C. Campbell Resource economist for the National Wildlife Federation.. From Statement Before The House Budget Committee's Task Force On Urgent Fiscal Issues, Oct. 31, 1991.

Europe's Cooperative Approach to Cleanups

All the world knows that Iraqi forces unleashed the biggest oil disaster in history when they sabotaged Kuwait's oil wells and loading terminals. Most Americans would probably rank the Exxon Valdez spill right near the Persian Gulf disaster in the list of all-time big spills. But they'd be wrong.

There have been many bigger oil spills in the world's oceans and harbors. In fact, the 11-million-gallon spill in Alaska ranks only 36th in the global rankings. (See list, p. 30.)

At least eight accidents have caused spills bigger than the Alaskan disaster in waters belonging to European countries, which, like the United States, depend on imported oil for most of their energy needs. When the Amoco Cadiz went aground off the coast of France in 1978, it released as much as 76 million gallons, which polluted vast sections of the Brittany coast. England suffered a similar calamity when the Torrey Canyon spilled 36 million gallons into its coastal waters in 1967.

These earlier accidents prompted several European countries to devise joint oil-spill response plans, which the congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) sees as superior to the U.S. ability to cope with major spills.#

Like the United States, European countries hold the owners and operators responsible for cleaning up spills from land-based facilities, such as pipelines, storage tanks and offshore platforms. They must have plans and equipment on hand to cope with emergencies on their own. The government will intervene only when the owners and operators are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the spill. But virtually all European governments assume full responsibility for cleaning up oil spills from tankers and other seagoing vessels. The unlucky vessel's owner and insurer pay for the cleanup.

European governments also determine responsibility for marine- spill cleanups according to the location of the pollution. Shoreline cleanups normally are handled by local governments. Central government personnel and equipment come into play in offshore accidents and contribute to onshore efforts when the spill is too big for local authorities to handle.

France and Norway were found to be far better equipped and organized to respond to oil spills that threaten their coastlines than is the United States. France improved its response after the Amoco Cadiz accident, while Norway has developed elaborate plans for dealing with offshore oil fields in the turbulent North Sea.

Because of the large number of countries lining Europe's waterways, major oil spills often threaten more than one country. To coordinate their cleanup efforts, Britain, Norway and six other countries maintain a regional spill-response team. And the 12-member European Community (EC) keeps an inventory of all spill equipment in the community that could be deployed in a major disaster.

“On the whole,” concludes the OTA study, “European countries are better organized than the United States, have more resources on which to draw and conduct more frequent training exercises.” # Office of Technology Assessment, Coping with an Oiled Sea, March 1990.