CRSE108 - Ethical Failure: A Case Study of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

This presentation examines the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a significant environmental disaster caused by the Exxon Shipping Company's oil tanker in 1989. The presentation details the incident, its causes including failures in supervision, vessel planning, and maintenance, and the immediate response involving mechanical cleanup and the support of Alaska residents and Exxon employees. It further elaborates on the spill's impact on Exxon, including criticism, revenue loss, and reputational damage, and recommends improved maintenance, equipment checks, and employee training to prevent similar incidents. The presentation concludes by emphasizing the destruction of sea life, the company's loss of reputation, and the importance of awareness and preparedness in mitigating such issues, referencing several research articles on the long-term effects of the spill.

Corporate Social
Responsibility
Name of the student:
Name of the university:

Introduction
•Exxon Valdez- oil tanker
•Spilled huge amount of crude oil
in Alaska
•Second largest oil spill
•Size of the spill- 40900 to
120000 meter cube

About Exxon Valdez
• Owned by Exxon Shipping Company
• Length of the tanker- 301 m
• Width of the tanker- 51 m
• Depth of the tanker- 26 m
• Hit Prince William Sound’s Bligh Reef
• Estimated earnings in 2015- $16.2
billion
• Payment for oil spill- $2 billion

Summary of oil spill
• Occurred in Prince William Sound,
Alaska
• Date- 24 March 1989
• Time 12:04 am
• 10.8 million US gallons crude oil
spillage in few days

Continued…
• Remote location
• Difficulty in accessibility
• Delayed response to reduce the effect
• Loss of habitat for aquatic species

Factors responsible for
the issue
•Failure in supervision
•Failure in planning the vessel
•Failure in proper maintenance

Resolving the issue
• Mechanical clean up
• Support of more than 11000 Alaska
residents
• Exxon employees took help of the residents
to restore the environment
• Rocky inlets of Prince William sound were
displaced with hot water under tremendous
pressure

Impact on Exxon Valdez
•Extreme criticism
•Loss in revenue
•Loss of trust among people
•Payment of penalty to cover up
the issue

Recommendation
•Proper maintenance
•Checking the equipments
•Supervision of the employees
•Proper training of the captain

Conclusion
•Destruction of sea life
•Loss of reputation of Exxon
•Delayed response in mitigating
the issue
•Lack of awareness among the
members

References
• Rice, S. and Peterson, C., 2018. Foreword: The
evolution from species-specific damage
assessment to ecosystem centric studies over
the multi-decade period following the Exxon
Valdez oil spill.
• Esler, D., Ballachey, B.E., Bowen, L., Miles,
A.K., Dickson, R.D. and Henderson, J.D., 2017.
Cessation of oil exposure in harlequin ducks
after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: Cytochrome
P4501A biomarker evidence. Environmental
toxicology and chemistry, 36(5), pp.1294-1300.

Continued…
• Esler, D., Ballachey, B.E., Matkin, C., Cushing, D.,
Kaler, R., Bodkin, J., Monson, D., Esslinger, G. and
Kloecker, K., 2017. Timelines and mechanisms of
wildlife population recovery following the Exxon
Valdez oil spill. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical
Studies in Oceanography.
• Shelton, A.O., Hunsicker, M.E., Ward, E.J., Feist, B.E.,
Blake, R., Ward, C.L., Williams, B.C., Duffy-Anderson,
J.T., Hollowed, A.B., Haynie, A.C. and Handling
editor: Ken Andersen, 2017. Spatio-temporal models
reveal subtle changes to demersal communities
following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. ICES Journal of
Marine Science, 75(1), pp.287-297.