North Cape oil spill
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South Kingstown, Rhode Island
South Kingstown is a town in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 30,639 at the 2010 census.South Kingstown includes the villages of Kingston, West Kingston, Wakefield, Peace Dale, Snug Harbor, Tuckertown, East Matunuck, Matunuck, Green Hill, and Perryville. Peace...
after the tug caught fire in its engine room during a winter storm. An estimated 828,000 gallons of home heating oil was spilled. Oil spread throughout a large area of Block Island Sound
Block Island Sound
Block Island Sound is a strait in the open Atlantic Ocean, approximately wide, separating Block Island from the coast of Rhode Island in the United States...
, including Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge
Trustom Pond
Trustom Pond is a closed lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. It is one of nine coastal lagoons in southern Rhode Island. It has a surface area of , and is the only undeveloped salt pond in the state. The pond averages deep, and has a salinity level of 5...
, resulting in the closure of a 250 square miles (647.5 km²) area of the Sound for fishing. Hundreds of oiled birds were recovered in the weeks following the spill and large numbers of dead lobsters, surf clams and sea stars were found on area beaches. Following the spill, considerable work was undertaken by US federal and Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
state governments to clean up the spill and restore lost fishery stocks and coastal marine habitat. The North Cape oil spill is considered a significant legal precedent in that it was the first major oil spill after the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
The Oil Pollution Act was passed by the 101st United States Congress, and signed by President George H. W. Bush, to mitigate and prevent civil liability for future oil spills off the coast of the United States....
resulting from the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Exxon Valdez oil spill
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...
in Alaska on March 24, 1989.