The Exxon Valdez disaster: environmental safety implementation in an incrementalist mode

This article develops a view on environmental risk as produced by some of the dynamics of human organization, i.e. political and economic as well as communicative factors acting together to create a failure-prone context. The empirical focus is the implementation of environmental safety that grew out of many years of inter-organizational interaction between the oil industry and regulatory agencies in Alaska, and which was highlighted by the notorious Exxon Valdez oil-spill in 1989. In the article it is argued that failure to prepare for (or to avoid) a catastrophe of this kind represents a safety implementation failure, and that such a failure usually encompasses systemic causes stretching far beyond the immediate context of the actual occurrence of the event. The study sets out to show how, in the Exxon Valdez case, the failure of an inter-organizational culture to implement basic safety measures resulted from an incremental but systematic decrease in regulatory control, the emergence of counterproductive bargaining between corporate bodies, conflict-oriented policy-making with respect to oil-spill hazards and a misjudgement of the potential outcomes of an oil spill.

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Task Force on Oil Spill Preparedness: A Canadian On-Shore Evaluation

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1991-1-15 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 1991 (1) ◽

pp. 15-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wayne O. Wiebe ◽

Paul Wotherspoon

Keyword(s):

Oil Spill ◽

Public Interest ◽

Oil Spills ◽

Task Force ◽

Oil Industry ◽

Regulatory Agencies ◽

The Past ◽

Oil Pipelines ◽

Overall Evaluation ◽

Offshore Activities

ABSTRACT The oil industry's ability to effectively contain and clean up oil spills has been questioned over the years, and recent events have heightened this concern. Growing public interest and efforts by the upstream oil industry in Canada to assess its operations resulted in formation of the Task Force on Oil Spill Preparedness. The study was sponsored by the Canadian Petroleum Association and the Independent Petroleum Association of Canada, which represent most companies in the upstream industry. The overall evaluation concentrates on both onshore and offshore activities, but this paper discusses only the onshore segment. In the past 40 years the industry has made substantial efforts to prevent oil spills. As a result, Canada has experienced no catastrophic oil spills in operating about 40,000 producing wells and 37,000 km of oil pipelines. In spite of these efforts, the industry believes there is room for improvement. The study recommends allocating more resources to improving equipment, training on-site personnel, establishing better communications within companies and between companies and regulatory agencies, and continuing research in oil spill countermeasures. These recommendations are being incorporated in the existing framework to improve the response capability of the upstream oil industry.

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Oil spill preparedness and response—has the paradigm changed?

The APPEA Journal ◽

10.1071/aj10100 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 51 (2) ◽

pp. 720

Author(s):

Declan O'Driscoll

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Oil Spills ◽

Oil Pollution ◽

Oil Industry ◽

The United States ◽

Exxon Valdez ◽

The World ◽

The Future ◽

The Way

Will 2010 in the future be seen as a year that marked the transformation of the approach by the oil industry to the way it manages the preparedness and response to major oil spills similar to the effect of the Exxon Valdez in 1989? The Exxon Valdez spilled 37,000 tons of crude oil in the Prince William Sound in Alaska. The spill had a profound impact on the local environment and the livelihoods of the local communities. The scale and impact of the incident led to significant regulatory changes in the United States with the introduction of the OPA 90 Act and, internationally, with the ratification and implementation of the International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Cooperation (known as the OPRC Convention). The oil industry has since then undertaken many initiatives both on its own and in co-operation with governments across the world to reduce the occurrence and impact of oil spills. The positive aspect of this has been a major reduction in the number of major marine oil spills matched by increasing awareness and attention to minor oil spills. In recent years, meeting the growing demand for oil in both the developed and developing countries has led to exploration and production in ever more remote and deeper waters around the world. Has the industry adapted appropriately to the challenges of preparedness and response in these areas? The recent tragic loss of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico and subsequent massive and extended oil spill raises serious questions for both industry and government. This presentation will give an overview of the developments in the approach to oil spill preparedness and response since the Exxon Valdez, the challenges the industry and government face in the region and how the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may change the way we manage preparedness and response in the future.

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OIL SPILL TRAINING—AN EFFECTIVE APPROACH

International Oil Spill Conference Proceedings ◽

10.7901/2169-3358-1987-1-569 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 1987 (1) ◽

pp. 569-571

Author(s):

Wayne Wiebe

Keyword(s):

Oil Spill ◽

Petroleum Industry ◽

Oil Industry ◽

Educational Process ◽

Regulatory Agencies ◽

Contingency Planning ◽

Full Time ◽

Field Training ◽

Response Planning ◽

Ice Conditions

ABSTRACT Oil spill response and equipment deployment training is a vital part of oil spill contingency planning. The Petroleum Industry Training Service has recognized the oil industry's needs in this regard and has established a number of oil spill related courses. These programs have been constructed to meet individual needs for contingency planning, response planning, equipment handling, cleanup techniques, and restoration procedures. Our organization understands the need for practical field training and because of this has designed the material around effective communications, coordination, cooperation, and case histories. In our training programs the varied subject matter is covered by personnel from the oil industry and regulatory agencies. Each of these individuals is well experienced in oil spill countermeasures and is capable of providing both theoretical and practical information. In addition, the province of Alberta, Canada, has been divided into 24 oil spill cooperatives. Each co-op is required to provide adequately trained personnel who can respond to and handle an oil spill on land, water, or under ice conditions. To make the educational process more effective, a full-time oil spill training coordinator is available to assist the cooperative chairman and his members with response planning and training exercise details. The system of classroom orientation, case studies, and hands-on field training has proven successful over the past five years, has paid dividends to the oil industry and regulatory agencies, and has received positive comments from many oil spill strategy groups.

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Profiles of Fecal Porphyrins in River Otters Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Marine Pollution Bulletin ◽

10.1016/s0025-326x(00)00073-4 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 40 (12) ◽

pp. 1132-1138 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Christopher Taylor ◽

Lawrence K Duffy ◽

R Terry Bowyer ◽

Gail M Blundell

Keyword(s):

Oil Spill ◽

Exxon Valdez ◽

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽

River Otters

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Sublethal effects of the (Exxon Valdez) oil spill on herring embryos and larvae: morphological, cytogenetic, and histopathological assessments, 19891991

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f96-174 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 53 (10) ◽

pp. 2355-2365 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

J E Hose ◽

M D McGurk ◽

G D Marty ◽

D E Hinton ◽

E D Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Oil Spill ◽

Sublethal Effects ◽

Exxon Valdez ◽

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

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EFFORT TO RESCUE OTTERS AFTER SPILL IS IN DISPUTE

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.88.3.661 ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 88 (3) ◽

pp. 661-661

Author(s):

J. F. L.

Keyword(s):

Crude Oil ◽

Oil Spill ◽

Preliminary Data ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Research Projects ◽

Exxon Valdez ◽

Sea Otters ◽

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill ◽

Rehabilitation Centers ◽

Government Contract

ANCHORAGE, April 20—Sea otters rescued from waters fouled by the Exxon Valdez oil spill fared poorly after their return to the wild last fall, and scientists working under Government contract say at least half may have perished over the winter. Nearly 900 dead otters were found after the tanker spilled almost 11 million gallons of crude oil in March 1989. An additional 360 were netted alive and brought to rehabilitation centers at Valdez, Seward, Homer and Kodiak. About 200 were later returned to Prince William Sound but some scientists say that as many as half may have perished and that the rehabilitation effort has been largely futile... The withholding of scientific information on the spill for legal reasons by all the parties is becoming a major source of controversy as research projects begin to generate at least preliminary data.

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