Exxon Valdez oil persists off Alaska coast; ‘Chronic source of low-level contamination’ possible, federal study finds.
updated 10:08 a.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 1, 2007
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Lingering crude from the nation’s largest oil spill has weathered only slightly in some places almost 18 years after the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground and fouled hundreds of miles of Alaska shoreline, a new federal study released Wednesday concludes.
The estimated 85 tons — or more than 26,600 gallons — of oil remaining at Prince William Sound is declining about 4 percent a year and likely even slower in the Gulf of Alaska, according to research chemist Jeffrey Short of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Edit:
Dude, that was how many years ago and the oil is still there?! ( o _ 0 ) The Gulf of Mexico and Florida are gonna be in a hurt locker 20 to 30 years from now!
At that rate of decline, oil could persist for decades below the surface of some beaches, Short and colleagues said in their report.
