What are the Comparisons of Exxon spill to bp spill?

Answer 1

In terms of size, BP is worse. In terms of damage, there's no clear answer. Here are my reasons.

The Exxon-Valdez spill was caused by a tanker accident causing oil to spill. The total amount of oil spilled is estimated to be 11 million gallons. The environmental damage was extensive. See related link.

The BP spill is ongoing and as such, my comments are limited to my knowledge as of May 28.

The BP well, Macondo, has been spilling oil since April 20. There have been various estimates of the rate. The latest estimate from a task force of professionals, is 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day. A barrel contains 42 gallons, so the estimated rate is 504,000 to 798,000 barrels per day. Considering the well has been spilling for 38 days, this means that approximately 19 to 30 million gallons have already been spilled into the gulf. As of today, May 28, we do not know if this flow has been stopped.

So, it is correct to say that the BP blowout spilled more oil than Exxon-Valdez accident. However, is it a worse accident? Eleven people died in the fire. In this aspect, it is much worse.

Is it worse in terms of environmental damage? No two accidents are the same. The damage is continuing. So are the clean up efforts. The Gulf Coast area is much more accessible. The resources in terms of clean up equipment are much more available in the Gulf Coast. The ecosystems of Alaska and Louisiana are very different.

This will be a controversial question for some time. I have included information on the BP spill and three other very large spills, Exxon-Valdez, Ixtoc-1 and Gulf War spill. The Gulf War spill was the world's largest spill and the degree to which the oil impacted the environment is still controversial.