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PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, Alaska. On March 24 in 1989, one of the biggest ecological disaster occurred near Prince William
Sound. What has happen is that a cargo spilt crude oil into the sea. The oil quickly spread on the sea and on the beaches near the
accident causing injuries to everything that was living at this place. The Exxon Valdez was a big ship carrying 1 264 155 barrels of
crude oil. One fifth on this oil, about 11 million gallons of oil, split into the sea when the ship ran aground the Bligh Reef near Prince
William Sound. It was not so bad until the wind arose spreading quickly the oil far away and taking expansion at the same time.
Like it was not enough, the mix of oil and sea water created a mousse that would not burn and that is very difficult to remove from
the sea and from the shore. To clean up this mess, thousands of people were working in cleanup and logistic during spring and
summer from 1989 to 1992. They were 11 00 people and more than 1 400 ships were involved in this operation to remove the oil
and to clean the water with advanced techniques. The bill of the operation, more than 2 billion dollars. Obviously, it has cause injury
to every species. The weakest one were killed on contact with the oil and the other died later of illness or of starvation. This
disaster affected the home of every of those animals and it reduced their food sources. It has also affected the health of eggs and
larvae but it didn't always cause death of older organisms. The United States of America and the Exxon agreed on criminal
charges and civil damages claims at the U.S. District Court. This way they would not have to spend so much time and money in
court. The Exxon had to pay 250 million dollar just like they had agree. Today, this kind of accident still occur but we are, or try, to
be more careful. We can still find a little of oil near Prince William Sound but most of it has been removed and the water is much
cleaner that it was after the disaster. All we can do is hope that things like this will not occur once again and if it does, that we will
be able to clean it.