Workers on Union Oil's Platform A were pulling the drilling tube out of well A-32 at 10:45 on Tuesday morning, January 28, 1969. The tube was stuck, but they kept pulling anyway, for another 450 feet. In the process, they dislodged critical drilling mud, and all hell broke loose. Gas and mud from 3,000 feet beneath the ocean's surface shot into the air, splattering the panicked workers on the platform with grease and grime. They managed to plug the well, but nothing could control the oil and gas. Eight hundred feet away from the platform, the sea boiled furiously. The oil had burst through its fragile geological formation, ripping five long gashes through the top of the ocean floor. At least 77,000 barrels escaped in the first 100 days of the spill.
The Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 remains a morality tale all the more tragic because it could have been avoided. In short, the federal agency regulating offshore oil production-the United States Geological Survey-granted Union Oil, an oil company with a reputation for cutting corners, permission to waive federal safety regulations when drilling in an oil formation that was known to be extremely volatile and fragile.
Santa Barbara's catastrophe sparked a local environmental movement that fused the youthful and militant energies of student activists with the money, connections, and indignation of well-established blue-bloods. Together these forces were directly responsible for founding the Community Environmental Council, a major think-tank; starting numerous grass-roots organizations like GOO, the January 28th Committee, and later the Environmental Defense Center; and opening UCSB's Environmental Studies program, the first of its kind in the nation. These forces played a key role in the victory of the statewide initiative that created the California Coastal Commission and contributed to the State Land's Commission decision to ban oil drilling in state waters for 16 years. Nationally, they aided President Richard Nixon in his push to reduce special tax breaks enjoyed by the oil industry and, most important, the forces played a major role in Nixon's decision to sign the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) on January 1, 1970. The law stipulates that the environmental consequences of federal projects be considered before the appropriate federal permits are issued, requires that public hearings be held, and that the public be given access information previously viewed as the property of the developer. The state of California passed a similar law, known as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)....
THE OIL SPILL HEARD 'ROUND THE
COUNTRY!
January 28, 1989 Los Angeles Times,
By Miles Corwin
source: http://ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu/es/handbook/hb3wherewecame.html#anchorthebigspill
SANTA BARBARA - From a large crack on the bottom of the Santa Barbara Channel, about 5 miles off the coastline, a few barrels of oil bubble to the surface each day. The slick and the nearby Unocal Corp. drilling platform Alpha are the last visible vestiges of the worst oil spill in the nation's history.
Twenty years ago today, on Jan. 28, 1969, a "blowout" erupted below the platform and, before it was plugged, more than 3 million gallons of crude oil spewed from drilling-induced cracks in the channel floor. For weeks national attention was focused on the spill's disturbing, dramatic images. Oil-soaked birds, unable to fly, slowly dying on the land. Waves so thick with crude oil that they broke on shore with an eerie silence. Thirty miles of sandy beaches coated with thick sludge. Hundreds of miles of ocean covered with an oily black sheen. But the spills impact went far beyond the fouled beaches. The disaster is considered to be a major factor in the birth of the modern-day environmental movement.
It was the Spark "The blowout was the spark that brought the environmental issue to the nation's attention," said Arent Schuyler, lecturer emeritus in environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. "People could see very vividly that their communities could bear the brunt of industrial accidents. They began forming environmental groups to protect their communities and started fighting for legislation to protect the environment."
During the next few years there was more environmental legislation than at any time in the nations's history. In 1969, Congress passed the National Environmental Policy Act which requires environmental impact studies before any federal action can be taken. California adopted similar legislation in 1970. A wave of national environmental legislation followed, including clean air and water acts, and laws that protected sensitive coastal areas and endangered species. The spill caused many people to doubt the safety claims of the oil industry and the government, said Michael Paparian, state director of the Sierra Club. Environmental activism gained widespread support he said and in the two years after the oil spill, Sierra club membership doubled......
The Oil Spill That Sparked the
Green Revolution
source: http://www.savecaspiansea.com/green-revolution.htm
In the winter of 1969, Santa Barbara (CA.) blue Pacific Ocean waters turned black and its tan beaches turn green. The black 3 million gallon of oil that began leaking Jan 28, 1969 from an offshore drilling site - would eventually be contained. But the green - the color that came to symbolize the environmental movement - would not. Its influence rapidly spread from the tar-stained shores of the Santa Barbara to the white marbled halls of the Washington. Within a year of the ecological debacle, landmark environmental legislation was passed to protect the nation water and air. Approval was also granted for the National Environmental Policy Act that requires environmental impact reports, and for establishment of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA.). The flash point for the new consciousness can be traced to a mile- deep spot on the ocean floor, about five miles from Santa Barbara coast. The Union oil company, now Unocal Corp., claimed it was safely searching for oil. At the time, federal standards required offshore drilling sites to be outfitted with well casing, a steel lining that helps prevent blowouts, to be at least 300 feet below the ocean floor. But the Oil Company had obtained a waiver from the U.S. Geological Survey that allows it to install casing 61 feet shorter. The federal exemption proved disastrous. When the drilling proceeded, the highly pressurized oil and gas caused an explosion that cracked the ocean floor in five places. (LA Times, Nov. 30, 1999)
Oil Insurance Limited – 25th Anniversary
1971 - 1995
source: http://www.oil.bm/history.htm
The late 1960s and early 1970s was
the sunset of a golden age for the petroleum industry. The explosive worldwide
economic growth and the dramatic rise in personal income which took place
after World War II was the backdrop for the very best of times for oil
companies. Consumption of petroleum products tripled between 1949 and 1972.
Oil
companies embarked on major capital
expenditure projects in every phase of the industry to support the massive
infrastructure necessary to meet an ever-increasing worldwide demand for
petroleum products. "Integration" of all phases of petroleum operations
- from exploration and production to refining and marketing - was the key
word on the minds of most oil company executives.
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill as Focusing
Event: Politics, Policy, and Symbols
source: http://www.albany.edu/~birkland/Research/ASA97.htm
On March 27, 1989, the supertanker
Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, in Prince William Sound, Alaska,
spilling 11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil into the waters of
the sound and southcentral Alaska. Almost immediately the news media converged
on the site of the spill, beaming pictures of oiled shorelines, birds,
and sea otters to a shocked and angry public (Davidson 1990; Keeble
1991; Wheelwright 1994). While this
shock was sincere, many people-environmentalists, fishers and elected officials-suggested
that this spill was no fluke. Rather, they argued, such a spill was an
inevitable result of the nation's dependence on fossil fuels and of federal
and state decisions to exploit Alaska's oil wealth (Bookchin 1989).
A particularly important outcome of this oil spill was the enactment of the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This legislation, enacted eighteen months after the Exxon Valdez spill, ended a nearly 14-year-long deadlock over how to streamline and strengthen federal oil pollution laws. The story of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the passage of the Oil Pollution Act is a particularly apt example of focusing events and agenda change. In this case, it seems more than coincidental that significant legislation on oil spills passed so rapidly after the spill, whereas before the Exxon Valdez the passage of such legislation was at an impasse. The Exxon Valdez spill was the key event that finally broke the deadlock, gave policy makers a new sense of urgency, and ultimately resulted in legislation.
In this paper I explain how oil spills generally, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in particular, serve as focusing events. While the Exxon Valdez spill was both spectacular and a key turning point in the history of federal oil spill policy, there have been other oil spills. Most spills are relatively small-less than 1,000 gallons-and attract relatively little attention. But truly large oil spills, such as the Santa Barbara oil well blowout in 1969 and the grounding of the Argo Merchant off Nantucket in 1976, also gained considerable attention, and the Alaska spill gained the most attention of all. These spills conjure vivid and enduring images of environmental and aesthetic damage, and they resulted in increased public and congressional attention to the problems of oil spills. In this paper show that in many was the Exxon Valdez spill was unique in its size and its importance in policymaking.
Oil Insurance Limited – 25th Anniversary
1971 - 1995
source: http://www.oil.bm/history.htm
The late 1960s and early 1970s was
the sunset of a golden age for the petroleum industry. The explosive worldwide
economic growth and the dramatic rise in personal income which took place
after World War II was the backdrop for the very best of times for oil
companies. Consumption of petroleum products tripled between 1949 and 1972.
Oil
companies embarked on major capital
expenditure projects in every phase of the industry to support the massive
infrastructure necessary to meet an ever-increasing worldwide demand for
petroleum products. "Integration" of all phases of petroleum operations
- from exploration and production to refining and marketing - was the key
word on the minds of most oil company executives.
The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill as Focusing
Event: Politics, Policy, and Symbols
source: http://www.albany.edu/~birkland/Research/ASA97.htm
On March 27, 1989, the supertanker
Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, in Prince William Sound, Alaska,
spilling 11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil into the waters of
the sound and southcentral Alaska. Almost immediately the news media converged
on the site of the spill, beaming pictures of oiled shorelines, birds,
and sea otters to a shocked and angry public (Davidson 1990; Keeble
1991; Wheelwright 1994). While this
shock was sincere, many people-environmentalists, fishers and elected officials-suggested
that this spill was no fluke. Rather, they argued, such a spill was an
inevitable result of the nation's dependence on fossil fuels and of federal
and state decisions to exploit Alaska's oil wealth (Bookchin 1989).
A particularly important outcome of this oil spill was the enactment of the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. This legislation, enacted eighteen months after the Exxon Valdez spill, ended a nearly 14-year-long deadlock over how to streamline and strengthen federal oil pollution laws. The story of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the passage of the Oil Pollution Act is a particularly apt example of focusing events and agenda change. In this case, it seems more than coincidental that significant legislation on oil spills passed so rapidly after the spill, whereas before the Exxon Valdez the passage of such legislation was at an impasse. The Exxon Valdez spill was the key event that finally broke the deadlock, gave policy makers a new sense of urgency, and ultimately resulted in legislation.
In this paper I explain how oil spills generally, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill in particular, serve as focusing events. While the Exxon Valdez spill was both spectacular and a key turning point in the history of federal oil spill policy, there have been other oil spills. Most spills are relatively small-less than 1,000 gallons-and attract relatively little attention. But truly large oil spills, such as the Santa Barbara oil well blowout in 1969 and the grounding of the Argo Merchant off Nantucket in 1976, also gained considerable attention, and the Alaska spill gained the most attention of all. These spills conjure vivid and enduring images of environmental and aesthetic damage, and they resulted in increased public and congressional attention to the problems of oil spills. In this paper show that in many was the Exxon Valdez spill was unique in its size and its importance in policymaking.