News - National
BP had a key role in the Exxon Valdez disaster
Posted: May 25, 2010 7:46 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: May 25, 2010 7:46 AM
Since a busted oil well began spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico a month ago, the catastrophe has constantly been measured against the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
The Alaska spill leaked nearly 11 million gallons of crude, killed countless wildlife and tarnished the owner of the damaged tanker, Exxon.
Yet the leader of botched containment efforts in the critical hours after the tanker ran aground wasn't Exxon. It was BP, the same firm now fighting to plug the Gulf leak. BP owned a controlling interest in the Alaska oil industry consortium that was required to write a cleanup plan and respond to the spill two decades ago. It also supplied the top executive of the consortium, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
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