© 2024
NPR for Northern Colorado
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Indian Court Blocks Exxon Valdez From Entering Scrap Yard

April 5, 1989: Tugboats tow the Exxon Valdez off Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound.
Chris Wilkins
/
AFP/Getty Images
April 5, 1989: Tugboats tow the Exxon Valdez off Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound.

One of the most infamous ships still sailing can't dock at its final resting place just yet.

India's Supreme court has ruled that the Exxon Valdez (now called the Oriental Nicety) cannot enter a scrap yard in the western state of Gujarat until its owners can prove the tanker has been cleaned of mercury, arsenic, asbestos, residual oil and other potential contaminants.

According to The Times of India, the ship's owners plan to appeal the court ruling.

It was on March 24, 1989, as you probably recall, when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound. It spilled 11 million gallons of oil; an environmental disaster.

Since the spill, the AP says, "the tanker moved on, with five name changes ... and ownership changing repeatedly, apparently to keep the ship in use while distancing it from the disaster."

It's been estimated that the ship will bring about $16 million for its scrap parts.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.
Related Content
  • The Exxon Valdez appears headed for a scrap heap. In the 23 years since it spewed oil across Alaska's Prince William Sound, the tanker has changed names, owners and purpose. Melissa Block and Robert Siegel look back at what the infamous ship has been up to since the 1989 environmental disaster.
  • Steve Inskeep talks to Steve Coll about his new book, Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power. In it, Coll delves into the business model of one of the country's largest and most profitable corporations. He explores how the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 shaped the culture at the company for years to come.
  • Experts say they're finding similarities between the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska on March 24, 1989, and the Gulf of Mexico spill earlier this year -- including mental health problems among the communities' residents.
  • Scientists studying the after-effects of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are frustrated at the lack of focus in the research effort as well as the shortage of money for such a huge undertaking.