环球英语 — 37： The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Sara DeKoster. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The town of Cordova was a very profitable fishing port in the state of Alaska in the United States. Fishermen there made a lot of money. They breathed the ocean air. They loved fishing. They supported their families by catching some of the best fish in the world. But their lives changed on March 24 1989.
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on the Exxon Valdez oil spill in the Prince William Sound.
Voice 1
The Prince William Sound is an area of water on the coast the northwest United States. Many different kinds of animals live in the sound. The ocean, and the fish that live in it, are an important part of the area’s economy. But oil is also an important part of Alaska’s economy.
Voice 2
On the night of March 23 1989, the Exxon Valdez, a crude oil tanker ship, left port in Valdez Alaska. It travelled south through the Prince William Sound. The ship was full of oil. Captain Hazelwood was leading the ship. He sent a radio message to the Coast Guard. He said that the he was going to turn the ship in a different direction. He wanted to avoid damage from ice floating in the cold water.
Voice 1
Captain Hazelwood turned the ship to travel a new path. The ship passed by the ice. Before he went to sleep, the captain told a crew member to turn the ship back in the correct path. But the crew member turned the ship too quickly. This was not where Captain Hazelwood wanted to go. They were travelling towards Bligh Reef, a group of rocks under the water.
Voice 2
At four [4] minutes past twelve [12] o-clock on March 24 the ship’s metal body hit Bligh Reef. The rocks of the reef broke open the side of the ship. The oil inside the ship began to flow out into the ocean. The thick black oil floated on the surface of the water.
Voice 1
The captain sent a radio message to authorities on land. He told them what had happened. He asked the authorities to send help. But the spill happened far away from land. There was not an easy way for rescue and cleaning crews to travel to the ship quickly. Workers could not stop the leaking. They tried to contain the oil. But they did not succeed. The ship leaked oil into the ocean for two days. More than forty-one million [41,000,000] gallons of oil spilled into the ocean.
Voice 2
The wind and waves moved the oil to land. The oil covered one thousand nine hundred [1,900] kilometres of the rocky coast. The oil affected the animals living in the water and on the coast. Birds could not fly because of the oil on their wings. The oil entered the bodies of fish, and other animals living in the water. Their bodies could not work correctly. They could not swim, fly, eat or stay warm. The oil harmed large and small animals. Hundreds of thousands of animals died.
Voice 1
The Exxon Company had to clean the spill. But they received help from the military and people who lived in the area. Many teams of people worked to clean the coast and the surviving animals. The teams used different methods to clean up the oil. In some areas they burned oil floating on the water. Other crews used machines to gather the oil. But the oil and plants in the water damaged the machines. Some crews used chemicals to break down the oil. But the waves were not large enough to mix the chemical with the oil.
Voice 2
Other teams used hot water at a high pressure to move the oil off the rocks back into the water. Workers would then collect the oil from the surface of the water. Some people even cleaned the oil-covered rocks by rubbing them with cloth. The oil travelled down the coast for more than a month. It took a very long time to clean the oil from the coast. Workers would clean an area, but then the ocean current would change. Oil would cover the clean areas again.
Voice 1
It took four summers for Exxon to clean the oil from the spill. But even today, you can find oil under rocks in some areas. The state of Alaska ordered the Exxon company to pay six million [6,000,000] dollars as punishment for the accident. But the company appealed the fine. Every time a court made a decision, they appealed. Exxon still has not paid the people of Alaska.
Voice 2
The spill had long-lasting effects. The oil did a lot of damage to the environment. But it also affected the people living in the cities and towns on the coast. These people made their living by working in the ocean. They needed the oceans to be healthy. The fishing industry suffered when the spill killed many fish. Riki Ott, used to be a fisherman in the area.
Voice 3
“We saw the worst effects of the spill four and five years after the spill, not in 1989.”
Voice 1
Some fish populations have recovered since the accident. But fishermen in Cordova say that people do not want to buy their fish. People are afraid that the fish may not be healthy.
The fisherman can no longer make enough money to support their families. Many have moved from their homes to find other work. The towns depend on the fishing industry. When the fish leave, the fishermen leave. When the fishermen leave, the town can not survive.
Voice 2
The oil spill in Alaska is not the only oil spill that has happened. Oil spills happen too often. They happen all over the world. Almost every coast in the world has experienced an oil spill. Many oil spills are larger than the one in Alaska. They have happened in the Middle East, in Europe, and Africa.
Voice 1
These oil spills can effect the environment in very serious ways. It is important for oil companies to protect people and the environment. But it is also important for people like you and me to protect the environment. We all use oil in some way. People use oil in their cars, and in other machines around the house. Airplanes and trucks use oil for fuel to transport goods. Oil helps us live. But people must be careful with oil. All people must use oil responsibly. Do not let the oil you use damage the environment.
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