About a million gallons of oil accidentally spilled into the Monongahela River in Western Pennsylvania when an above-ground oil storage tank collapsed January 2, 1988. In a matter of seconds, a 30 foot wave of heavy oil surged over containment barriers and spilled into the river, threatening the water supplies of more than a million people living downriver. Swift action was necessary to safeguard these water supplies. Thousands of feet of booms were used to contain the oil as workers pumped it into barges and tanker trucks. Even with this massive cleanup effort, eight water suppliers in three states were forced to shut their intake for a few days.
Many governments have laws regulating oil spills.
Many states and local governments have similar laws. We may not know for years, if ever, how much damage oils spills cause. Sometimes we don't know a lot about the area where the spill occurred. This makes it hard to know what affect the oil had. Finding ways to prevent the spills from occurring is important.