The oil spillage happened when one of Exxon's tankers, bound for California, hit a reef outside of Alaska. It is one of the biggest human created environmental disasters of all times and due to its location was the accident hard to respond to. A total of 2100km of coastline ended up being covered in oil as a result of the accident. Exxon shipping company was blamed for the accident, among other because they failed in contributing with rested and prepared crew for their tanker. The oil spillage continued to affect the wildlife and the nearby population for years after the oil spillage. It is estimated that at least 100.000 seabirds and 2800 sea otters was killed due to the accident. After several court cases was the victims of the oil-spillage awarded $500 millions in punitive damages.
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