Torrey Canyon oil spillIn 1967, the biggest oil spill ever, at that time, affected Great Britain and France when the supertanker Torrey Canyon ran aground on Pollard's Rock between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly. The rocks ripped open six of the ship’s 18 cargo tanks that morning, and by evening there was an eight-mile oil slick leaking from it. Attempts to refloat the the ship failed, and one member of the salvage team died. With no prior incident of such a huge disaster to guide clean up efforts, bombs and napalm were tried to cause the oil to burn, then detergents which emulsified the oil, but were themselves highly toxic to all marine and shore life. Eventually, all 120,000 tons of crude oil being shipped from Kuwait were released as the ship broke apart. Damage to ecosystems lasted decades. Some lessons were learned.« |
