The Exxon US, a California-bound oil tanker, struck a reef and spilled 8.4M gallons of crude in Alaska's Prince William Sound on 24 March. A Valdez Fish and Wildlife Service representative said the 987-foot tanker was spilling oil at the rate of 10,000 barrels an hour. But a Coast Guard spokesman said that the spill had slowed to a trickle by afternoon Friday and did not seem to be moving ashore. Environmentalists feared that wildlife would be threatened, especially if the oil reached shore, and were concerned about the slow pace of the cleanup. Alaskan Governor Cowper arrived in US on Friday to evaluate the spill.
The Exxon Valdez, a California-bound oil tanker, struck a reef and spilled 8.4M gallons of crude in Alaska's Prince William Sound on 24 March. A US Fish and Wildlife Service representative said the 987-foot tanker was spilling oil at the rate of 10,000 barrels an hour. But a Coast Guard spokesman said that the spill had slowed to a trickle by afternoon Friday and did not seem to be moving ashore. Environmentalists feared that wildlife would be threatened, especially if the oil reached shore, and were concerned about the slow pace of the cleanup. Alaskan Governor Cowper arrived in Valdez on Friday to evaluate the spill.