Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Sam
Denali Elementary School

Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court,

On March 24, 1989, at 12:04 am the Exxon Valdez hit Bligh Reef, and 11 million barrels of toxic crude oil went into the ocean. Before this drastic event, the animals were clean. The fishermen had good fish to sell. The birds would dive and eat the fish. Then everything turned, in late March, 1989.

Birds started dying and getting paralyzed, because their wings got too oily and they couldn't fly. Thousands of birds died. Beaches are still covered with this toxic oil. Exxon didn't even have a workable clean up plan. The plan they thought of right when it happened was to let the oil get to the beaches. But it is harder to clean up when it is on the beach.

Exxon knew Captain Hazlewood had a drinking problem. Captain Hazelwood also put the 3rd mate in charge of the boat and he didn't even have a license to drive the oil tanker in Prince William sound. Hazelwood was also slow to report that he hit a reef. He didn't make a big deal about when the ship hit. He said "Apparently we're leaking some oil." It turns out that that was the biggest oil leak in America.

Peoples lives were ruined. Fishermen couldn't fish because the fish were poisoned. Exxon told the fishermen not to help until the oil got to the beach. People started to boycott Exxon's products, because Exxon killed the wild life and businesses in Cordova, and other fishing towns.

The supreme court should listen to the Alaskans who got their lives ruined from the spill. Exxon should pay for what they did.

Respectfully,
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