CATASTROPHES IN OIL AND

PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRIES
EXXON VALDEX OIL SPILL

HAFIY HANANI BT SARJU

NAZATUL HUSNA BT HAMIDON
NURUL SHAFIQA BT SHAFIE
NURUL IZZATI BT HAIRUDIN

OVERVIEW

On March 23, 1989 at 9:12 p.m. the oil tanker

boat known as the Exxon Valdez was scheduled
to transport over 60 million gallons of oil from
Prince William Sound to Long Beach, California
to be refined over a 5-day time span.

Due to some ice fragments that had broken off

from the Columbia glacier, Capt. John
Hazelwood had decided to take Exxon Valdez
off its normal route to steer clear of the glacier
pieces.

OVERVIEW

During this time of steering off course, John

Hazelwood, decided to leave from the bridge area and
leave the Third mate in charge of the ship.

The ship was on autopilot and through a lot of

unforeseen mistakes and lack of communication at
about 12:04 a.m. on March 24, 1989, Exxon Valdez ran
across the Bligh Reef.

Within the time span of five hours about 11 million

gallons of oil had spilled from the ruptured hull of the
tanker and into the Prince William Sound

Improper
navigation watch

By the ships captain

Alcohol impairment

Ineffective vessel
traffic system

Inadequate navigation equipment

The oil industry promised, but never
installed, state-of-the-art iceberg
monitoring equipment

Lack of effective
pilot and escort
service

The radar was not working since the time

ship left the Valdez Terminal.
Coast Guard tracking ships out to Bligh
Reef had ceased

Fatigue
Excessive workload

Poor maneuvering

POSSIBLE FACTOR

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS

The spills damaging more than 1300

miles of shoreline.
Disrupting lives of people
Altering the physical features of a
beach or shoreline. Hence affects the
recovery of impacted plants or
animals.

EFFECTS OF CLEANING UP PROCESS

The cleaning up procedure is using high

pressure, hot water washing of shoreline
It is the effective way to remove
stranded oil
But this procedure can damage the
plants and animal in the treated zone
and flushed away fine sediments that
can helping to protect clams and
mussels during storm.

EFFECTS ON HABITAT AND ANIMAL

Oil from the spillage is very concentrated.

Therefore, it can poisons animal by internal
and external routes of exposure.
Birds and mammals die because of oil fouls
fur and feather. They can no longer
insulated.
Small organism which is aquatic habitat
can be destroyed by a thick layer of oil.
Example: Pacific Herring,Pigeon Guillemots

EFFECTS ON HABITAT AND ANIMAL

100,000-250,000seabirds
2,800 sea otters
12 river otters
300 harbor seals
247 bald eagles
22 orcas and billions of salmon and
herring eggs

TIMELINE OF ANIMAL RECOVERY

EFFECTS ON HUMAN AND

ECONOMIC

The killing of hundreds of thousands

of marine animals damaged the
fishing industry
The high concentrations of oil affects
the live of aquatic habitats.
The tourism industry, recreation also
affected. The beauty of the place is
no longer attracts people as the
place is all covered with oil.

SOLUTIONS
MECHANICAL TREATMENT (BOOM &
SKIMMER)
Used to slow the spread of oil and
suck up the floating oil on the surface
However, skimmers were not readily
available during the first 24 hours
following the spill. Thick oil and
heavy kelp tended to clog the
equipment. Repairs to damaged
skimmers were time consuming.

SOLUTIONS

HOT WATER AND HIGH PRESSURE

People used fire hoses to spray beaches,

forcing oil to the shore where it was trapped
by layers of boom and removed or absorbed
by special materials.

Hot water was used until it was determined

that hot water cooked small organisms; cold
water was used afterwards.

SOLUTIONS
SOLVENTS AND CHEMICAL CLEANERS

The used of Corexit 958OM2 to remove the oil. Although this

chemical is very effective to clean the oil, but spreading the
chemical substances to the onshore is too risky.

Penetrate oil deeply into beaches, but this oil can remain relatively
fresh for years and can later come back to the surface and affect
nearby animals.

Mixed chemical-oil tend to be hard to collect using skimmers, thus

more chemical being free to the ocean rather than being picked up.

SOLUTIONS
BIOREMEDIATION
Cleanup crews applied fertilizer to
beaches in order to spur growth of
microscopic bacteria to eat the oil.
The technique was successful on
beaches with thin oil cover.

COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: BOOM
Floatation devices , U and J
shaped

To control the spread of

oil

To concentrate the oil

at one place

COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: SKIMMER

Device for collect and remove

oil from the surface of water

Operates like household

vacuum cleaner.

Oil is pumped into

storage tank

COUNTERMEASURES
MECHANICAL CONTAINMENT
1: SORBENT
Material that soak up oil from
water
Can be use to recover
oil via adsorption or
absorption.
Carbon based product
such as Sawdust ,
corncob and etc

COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
1: DISPERSING AGENT
Also called dispersant,
Surfactants- chemical that break
liquid into small droplets

Prevents oil layer build up

on water.

Applicable at rough and

choppy sea condition.

COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
2: IN-SITU BURNING
Burning the oil where it was
spilled

Contain the oil with fireresistant boom.

Rarely used because of

environmental impact

COUNTERMEASURES
ALTERNATIVES METHOD
3: BIOLOGICAL AGENT

Nutrients, enzymes, or
microorganisms- increase
biodegradation rate naturally.
Breakdown complex
compound into simpler
product.
1) Bioremediation ( fertilizer)
2)Biostimulation (P and N )
3)Bioaugmentation
( microorganisms)

REFERENCESS

The Atlantic, (2014). The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: 25 Years Ago Today. [online] Available at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/03/the-exxon-valdez-oil-spill-25-years-agotoday/100703/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Topics.nytimes.com, (2010).Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989) News - The New York Times.
[online] Available at:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/e/exxon_valdez_oil_spill_1989/i
ndex.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).Oil and Chemical Spills/Significant Incidents/Exxon
Valdez Oil Spill. [online] Available at: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/exxonvaldez
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).Lessons Learned From the Exxon Valdez Spill |
response.restoration.noaa.gov. [online] Available at:
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significant-incidents/exxonvaldez-oil-spill/lessons-learned-exxon-valdez.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Response.restoration.noaa.gov, (2014).How Toxic Is Oil? | response.restoration.noaa.gov.
[online] Available at: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significantincidents/exxon-valdez-oil-spill/how-toxic-oil.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].
Hadhazy, A. (2014).20 Years After the Exxon Valdez: Preventing--and Preparing for--the
Next Oil Spill Disaster [Slide Show]. [online] Scientificamerican.com. Available at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-valdez-20-years-later-oil-spill-prevention/
[Accessed 29 Apr. 2015].