In March of 1989, the Exxon Valdez, an enormous oil tanker owned by Exxon Mobil, ran to ground off the coast of Alaska in the Prince William Sound causing unbelievable environmental, ecological, and financial damage to the region.
Following the oil spill, thousands of birds, fish, and many other marine mammals surrounding the Prince William Sound were killed or affected by the 53 million gallons of crude oil that leaked from the grounded tanker. This combined with the lack of preparation demonstrated by the enormous distributor regarding what measures were to be put in place if the vessel did indeed crash; sparked endless amounts of controversy surrounding what the company should do in return to not only help the environment, but to aid in restoring the markets it destroyed around the region.
The ethical dilemma that Exxon Mobil faced after this disaster was whether the billions of dollars that they did end up paying to the markets surrounding Prince William Sound and to the government was enough to replace the priceless environments and ecosystems they devastated. In my opinion, you can’t put a price on an ecosystem.
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