Oil spills are no good.

According to an article in The Washington Post, a 575-foot oil tanker had a small spill in Alaska. The tanker, which was loaded with 4.9 million gallons of gasoline and other petroleum products, broke free of its moorings and ran aground Thursday. Less than 100 gallons of gasoline was spilt, making the spill not critical. The accident happened in the Cook Inlet port of Nikiski. An ice block struck the tanker, named the Seabulk, causing its mooring line to break. With luck, it ran ashore less than an hour later. No injuries were reported among the 34 crew members.
Although this recent oil spill was nothing big, there have been major oil spills in the seas around America. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the most devastating domestic oil spill in the United States. On March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez departed from the Valdez oil terminal in Valdez, Alaska. The vessel hit the Bligh Reef on March 24 while trying to avoid glaciers. About 30 million US gallons of crude oil were spilled, affecting 1,900 km of coastline. Thousands of animals died immediately. Despite a thorough cleanup, and little visual evidence apparent, the effects of the spill continue to be felt today. Exxon spent some 2 billion dollars cleaning up the spill, and a further 1 billion to settle civil and criminal charges related to the case.