Today in Labor History March 24, 1989: The Exxon Valdez oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska, dumping 240,000 barrels of crude oil. It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history until the Deepwater Horizon spill, in 2010. A major cause for the tanker’s collision was an overworked and under-rested crew, which the National Transportation Safety Board determined was a widespread practice. Thousands of people who participated in the cleanup efforts developed liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders due to 2-butoxyethanol and other agents that were used. An estimated 250,000 sea birds; 2,800 sea otters; 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles; 22 orcas; and unknown numbers of fish were killed by the spill. A study by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA found that 90 tons of oil remained on beaches in Prince William Sound in 2001. The devastation to the local fisheries caused the bankruptcy of the Chugach Alaska Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation.

Oil spill in Ecuador’s Amazon devastates rivers and wildlife refuge https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/03/oil-spill-in-ecuadors-amazon-devastates-rivers-and-wildlife-refuge/

Ecuador battles spreading oil slick, residents without water https://phys.org/news/2025-03-ecuador-oil-slick-residents.html

Filtering by Sea Sponge

Gathering oil after a spill is fiendishly difficult. Deploying booms to corral and soak up oil at the water surface only catches a fraction of the spill. A recent study instead turns to nature to inspire its oil filter. The team was inspired by the Venus’ flower basket, a type of deep-sea sponge with a multi-scale structure that excels at pulling nutrients out of complex flow fields. The outer surface of the sponge has helical ridges that break up the turbulence of any incoming flow, helping the sponge stay anchored by reducing the force needed to resist the flow. Beneath the ridges, the sponge’s skeleton has a smaller, checkered pattern that further breaks up the flow as it enters into the sponge’s hollow body. Within this cavity, the flow is slower and swirling, giving plenty of time for nutrients in the water to collide with the nutrient-gathering flagellum lining the sponge.

By mimicking this three-level structure, the team built a capable oil-capturing device that can filter even emulsified oil from the water. They swapped the flagellum with a (replaceable) oil-adsorbing material and found that their filter captured more than 97% of oil across a range of flow conditions. (Image credit: NOAA; research credit: Y. Yu et al.; via Physics World)

How the North Sea tanker collision could affect one of Britain's most important coastlines https://phys.org/news/2025-03-north-sea-tanker-collision-affect.html #Seals #MarineMammals #MarineLife #MarineBiology #Pinnipeds #Dolphins #Cetaceans #FossilFuels #OilSpill

CBS News: U.S.-flagged oil tanker, cargo ship in North Sea collision off coast of England, setting both vessels on fire
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/collision-oil-tanker-cargo-ship-north-sea/

#Russia suffering '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' after #OilSpill in #KerchStrait

Joshua Cheetham, Olga Robinson & Matt Murphy, January 23, 2025

"Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown a major oil slick spreading across the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from annexed #Crimea, a month after two oil tankers were badly damaged in the #BlackSea.

"Oil has leaked into the strait from two ships which ran into trouble during bad weather on 15 December. Volgoneft-239 ran aground following the storm, while Volgoneft-212 sank.

​​"Up to 5,000 tonnes of oil has now leaked, and media reports and official statements analysed by BBC Verify suggest the spill has spread across the Black Sea and the #SeaOfAzov.

"A senior Russian scientist called the spill the country's worst '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' of the 21st Century.

"'This is the first time fuel oil has been spilled in such quantities,' Viktor Danilov-Danilyan - the head of science at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - said in a 17 January interview with a Russian newspaper.

"Russian scientists said in December that this spill could be more than twice the size of a similar disaster in the strait in 2007, which saw up to 1,600 tonnes of #HeavyOil leak into the sea. #Ukraine's ministry of #ecology has estimated that the clear up from the latest spill could cost the Russian state up to $14bn (£11.4bn).

"#PaulJohnston, a scientist at #GreenpeaceResearchLaboratories, said 'there's always an element of uncertainty around oil spills', but a lack of timely information has heightened this uncertainty further.

"'I'm not entirely optimistic we'll ever know the full extent of the problem,' he added.

"Satellite images reviewed by #BBCVerify on 10 January - the most recent available high-resolution photos - showed a #MassiveOilSlick running through the strait, measuring at least 25km (15 miles) long. A second, smaller slick measuring around 5.7km (3.5 miles) long is also visible."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23ngk5vgmpo
#WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalDestruction #OilSpill

'Has Repsol cleaned up the mess?
Three years after the worst environmental disaster on the Peruvian coast, the spill
of 12,000 barrels of crude oil at the La Pampilla refinery' https://cooperaccion.org.pe/publicaciones/repsol-limpio-el-desastre/ @cooperaccion #cooperaccion #repsol #oilspill #peru

So an Irving Oil gas station in New Brunswick spilled an indeterminate amount of diesel leading to a shut down of both the station and the neighbouring Tim Hortons ... But since Irving kind of owns the province the government is rather tight lipped about it and the company itself refused to answer any questions from CBC reporters

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-tim-hortons-abruptly-shuts-down-fuel-leak-irving-1.7426978

Just a minor #ClimateDisaster / #OilSpill nothing to see here

#DemocracyNow: Will #Biden Pardon #StevenDonziger, Who Faced Retaliation for Suing #Chevron over #OilSpill in Amazon?

January 08, 2025

"Massachusetts Congressmember Jim McGovern calls on President Biden to pardon environmental activist Steven Donziger, who has been targeted for years by oil and gas giant Chevron. Donziger sued Chevron on behalf of farmers and Indigenous peoples who suffered the adverse health effects of oil drilling in the #EcuadorianAmazon. 'I visited Ecuador. I saw what Chevron did. It is disgusting' and 'grotesque,' says McGovern. 'Donziger stood up for these people who had no voice.' In return, Chevron has spent millions prosecuting him instead of holding itself to account, he adds, while a pardon from the president would show that the system can still 'stand up to #CorporateGreed and excesses.'"

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/8/steven_donziger_jim_mcgovern
#ViewerSupportedNews #ClimateJustice #EnvironmentalActivists #SilencingDissent #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateGreen #CorporateColonialism #Ecuador #AmazonRainforest #FreeStevenDonziger

A drop in the ocean.
Volunteers cleaning up the coastline after an oil spill in the Black Sea speak out

https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/12/28/a-drop-in-the-ocean-en

Volunteers often suffer severe sleep deprivation and poisoning, Katalini notes. “Your liver hurts, you vomit, your head spins, you get digestive disorders,” she explains…

Dozens of marine mammals found dead after Russian oil tanker spill https://phys.org/news/2025-01-dozens-marine-mammals-dead-russian.html #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #Porpoises #OceanPollution #OilSpill #FossilFuels

'Chaos': #Peru Declares #EnvironmentalEmergency Over #OilSpill

"So far, we have not had any response from the oil company," said one fisherman whose livelihood has been threatened by the accident.

Julia Conley
Dec 27, 2024

"At least seven beaches and the safety of local wildlife have been impacted by an oil spill in northern Peru, said the South American country's Environmental Assessment and Oversight Agency on Thursday as the government declared an environmental emergency.

"The environmental watchdog, known as #OEFA locally, said in a preliminary report that about 10,000 square meters of surface seawater have been contaminated by the crude oil, which spilled from a vessel at a terminal of the #TalaraRefinery.

"Petroperu, the state-owned oil company, was preparing to load the oil onto a tanker when the spill was detected at #LasCapullanas beach.

"The company has not disclosed exactly how much oil spilled, but OEFA said it has extended over an area of 116-566 acres. Petroperu has also not stated the cause of the accident."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/petroperu
#BigOilAndGas #Petroperu #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NoDAPL #RenewablesNow #EnvironmentalPollution #EnvironmentalDisaster

Major environmental damage cited by Russia in Black Sea oil tanker disaster: “The situation is truly critical” @guardian #oilspill
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/28/russia-warns-of-severe-environmental-damage-from-huge-black-sea-oil-spill

Massive oil spill from two oil tankers in the Black Sea, the blame goes to a storm on December 15th. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/28/russia-warns-of-severe-environmental-damage-from-huge-black-sea-oil-spill #environment #oilspill #disaster #blacksea #russia

As usual, Russian authorities were crying crocodile tears when they pretended to take care of the oil spill caused by two of their tankers spontaneously disassembling in rough weather.

Reports from the Kazan direction show oil bags from the publicity stunt a few days ago, left on the shore, slowly washing back into the sea.

Russia.
#kazan #oilspill #environment #nafo

[Frasier et al.] A decade of declines in toothed whale densities following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01920-8 #Cetaceans #MarineMammals #MarineLife #Whales #OceanPollution #OilSpill #FossilFuels #DeepwaterHorizon

Reports of a third Russian oil tanker in the Black Sea with technical problems .... Thanks to Russian progress, the Black Sea becomes its namesake

#OilSpill #RussianTankers

Two Russian oil tankers have been badly damaged in the Black Sea, causing an oil spill, authorities in Russia have said.
One crew member was reportedly killed. The rest appear safe.
Location, the Kerch Strait.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dq6q0m862o

#climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #environment #oilspill #wisconsin

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2024/12/13/enbridge-pipeline-in-wisconsin-spills-nearly-70000-gallons-of-oil/76974061007/