Energy-related Environmental Disasters

Three-mile Island March 28, 1979 Middletown, PA The most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history (but no deaths or injuries)

Three-mile Island: 1/2 meltdown The NRC became aware of the burn on Friday, although it occurred on Wednesday Deliberate venting of radioactive gases from the plant Friday morning that released 1,200 millirems directly above the stack of the auxiliary building NRC also involved, but not prepared for emergency response. (No chain of command; no authority to order evacuations; unclear authority over Metropolitan Edison) Voluntary evacuations 36 hours after start of incident. No public health consequences.

Three-mile Island Led to changes in emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, radiation protection, and other areas of nuclear power plant operations The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had to tighten and heighten its regulatory oversight

Chornobyl April 26, 1986 During a test of the system, safety mechanisms were turned off The cooling system was mistakenly turned off as well This led to a complete meltdown and explosion

Oil spills

Exxon Valdez March 24, 1989 tanker ran aground 11 million gallons spilled in Prince William Sound 1,990 miles of coastline affected

Exxon Valdez Some numbers: 2800 otters, 300+ harbor seals, 250,000 seabirds, 250 bald eagles killed Mass mortalities of macroalgae and invertebrates Long-term effects on fish populations…Why?

Deep Water Horizon spill Remember the cause(s)? 4.9 million barrels (2.1 x 109 gallons) Leaked for 12 weeks BP recovered ¼ the blowout prevention system failed at the Macondo Well

Buzzards Bay 1969 Oil barge Florida ran aground 200,000 gallons of fuel spilled MANY fishes and invertebrates were killed Still found in marsh sediments today, still affecting wildlife

Kuwait War Deliberate dumping of oil by the Iraqi army into the Persian Gulf during the Kuwait war (1991) 6 million barrels (2.52 x 108 gallons) 101 sq. mile oil slick

Oil Pollution Act 1990 Requires strict safety measures for tankers and storage facilities Requires contingency plans in the event of a spill Requires contributions to a trust fund to cover oil spill costs