Exxon Valdez Spill
Elite
Content
Valdez Oil SpillTough People For PR
CausesLate Actions
CleanupEffects
Bad PR?
Valdez Oil Spill
• Prince William Sound, Alaska
• Spilled 26,000 – 750,000 barrels
• Covered 2,100km of coastline
• 28,000 km2 of ocean
Tough People For PR• Oil Spill Trustee Council• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.• Greenpeace• Sierra Club• Defenders of Wildlife
Identified Causes• Fail to provide crew
• Fail to maneuver the vessel
Identified Causes• Broken RAYCAS system
• Iceberg monitoring is never installed
Identified Causes
• Half size crew• 12-14 Hours shifts
Identified Causes• Tanker inspections was not done• Lack of available equipment for the
cleanup
After 1 Day
No Action!
After 10 Days
No Comment from CEO Rawl
After 10 Days
Advertisements about Exxon’s Excuse
After 10 Days
False Press Conference
After 10 Days
CEO Does NOT apologize!
After 1 Month
Cleanup Begins!
Cleanup• Solvent Mixture
• High-pressure hot water
Cleanup• Burning
• Mechanical Cleanup
High-pressure Hot Water Destroyed
• Microbial Populations• Organisms
Immediate Effects• 100,000 – 250,000 Seabirds• 2,800 Sea otters• 12 river otters• 300 harbor seals• 247 bald eagles• 22 orcas• Billions of salmon and herring eggs
Jury Award• $287 million for actual damages• $2.5 billion for punitive damages
Exxon Spent• $2 billion on cleaning up• $1 billion to settle charges
Oil Still Remains!• Early 2007 98 m3 of oil remain
• Declining 4% per year
Oil Still Remains!
Bad PR?
Aftermath
Delivery
Expectations
Promises
Bad PR?• No Extensive emergency plan
• Not sufficient emergency media response plan
• Ignorance• Refused assistance• No spokesman• Interview refusals• Delay in cleanup
Bad PR?• Failed to – Follow own procedure;– Leadership;– Concern;– Involve media; – Respond to activists
• Short-term gain is off-set by long-term financial, legal & reputational pressures