The Afterlife of Oil Spills

MoreNavy Seals Capture Rogue Oil Tanker Off Cyprus CoastLibyan Forces Intercept North Korean Tanker with ‘Illicitly Obtained’ OilCrews Try to Contain Oil Spill in Galveston BayOn a shelf at my home, I have a small jar that contains a smear of crude oil. I dug it up on the shore of a small island in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in May of 2009, on a reporting trip for a story about the legacy of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. That crude oil is more than 25 years old now, and its existence is a reminder of just how long lived the effects of a major oil accident can be. Years after the spill has been stopped, after the press has gone home, the crude oil released into a river or a sea will affect the biology of almost anything it touches—just as it continues to weigh on the people who live and work in the area fouled by crude. MoreU.S. Eyes Natural Gas Exports to Weaken PutinUS Average Gas Price Rises 5 Cents Per GallonMen Charged With Toppling Ancient Rock Formation Avoid Jail Time Huffington PostHere's An Updated Tally Of All The People Who Have Ever Died From A Marijuana Overdose Huffington PostPHOTO: Gwyneth Paltrow Shares a No-Makeup (Really!) Selfie PeopleThat’s worth remembering as we observe the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez spill today. On Mar. 25, 1989, a tanker captained by Joseph Hazelwood ran aground on Alaska’s Bligh Reef, spilling nearly 11 million gallons (42 million liters) of crude oil into Alaska’s near-pristine Prince ...
Source: TIME.com: Top Science and Health Stories - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized BP BP oil spill deepwater horizon ecology energy exxon valdez gulf of mexico health Marine Life prince william sound Source Type: news