Panel marks 20th EVOS anniversary
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is marking the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill with a congressional panel on advances in spill response.
The March 24, 1989, oil spill, the largest ever in U.S. Waters, has produced a new environmental consciousness, NOAA said, with “two decades of new laws on containership construction, advances in spill cleanup technology and increased knowledge on how natural resources respond to human activities.”
The NOAA-organized, U.S. Senate Commerce Committee-sponsored event will focus on progress made in spill preparedness, response and restoration at the federal and local level since the Exxon Valdez spill, “and the challenges facing the nation with increased energy exploration, climate change and the increase in marine transportation in the Arctic,” NOAA said.
The March 13 panel will include Alaska Sens. Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski; Patience Faulkner, president of the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council; senators from Washington and New Jersey; Coast Guard and NOAA officials; and state officials from Texas and New Jersey.
—Petroleum News
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