- Author
-
U.S. General Accounting Office
- Title
- Coast Guard: Federal Costs Resulting From the <u>Exxon Valdex</u> Oil Spill.
- Coporate
- General Accounting Office, Washington, DC
- Report
-
GAO/RCED-90-9IFS
January 1990
27 p.
- Keywords
-
oil spills
|
costs
|
cleaning
- Identifiers
- Prince William Sound, Bligh Reef, Valdez, Alaska, March 24, 1989
- Abstract
- On April 10, 1989, you asked us to provide information on the federal costs of dealing with the Exxon Valdex oil spill, which occurred on March 24, 1989, in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The 10-million-gallon spill--the largest ever in U. S. waters--triggered an extensive cleanup effort. A number of federal agencies contributed to the effort by monitoring and supporting the cleanup, helping to remove oil from the water and beaches, dealing with dead and injured wildlife, and assessing the damage to the environment. In your letter, you expressed concern that the federal agencies involved be fully reimbursed for their activities by Exxon, the company responsible for the spill. As agreed with Congressman Kasich, who was designated as our contact, we focused on determinging: what costs federal agencies estimate they have incurred; whether the agencies had procedures to seek reimbursement from Exxon, and the extent to which these agencies have been reimbursed.