As much as 90 percent of oil in marine waters is from chronic sources that are difficult to identify, such as urban run-off, small craft boating, and improper disposal of used oil products. Inland spills most often come from pipelines, which can corrode or break. Old, leaking tanks, oil refineries, and accidents involving tanker trucks and railroad tank cars are also sources of inland oil spills. Oil spills can be reduced by educating everyone who handles petroleum products about safe, effective ways of transporting or transferring them, keeping the products in proper containers, and of the environmental damage they can cause if spilled. At the other, education also applies to people whose business is the oil industry, who work in oil fields and refineries, oil transport firms, and marine fueling facilities.
Most people are careful when they know the product they handle is dangerous to living things.
For those few who don't care about wildlife and natural resources, we must resort to regulations and enforcement actions. They probably will care about costly fines, penalties, and criminal charges. The impact of oil spills on wildlife is varied, and often deadly. When a seabird or waterfowl lands in a gasoline spill and flies away, it will preen or clean itself and ingest the toxic product. Minute amounts of petroleum on bird eggs can destroy them.