Oil Pollution Act of 1990 timely evidence that oil spills were not uncommon. Alaska Governor Steve Cowper authorized the creation of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission in 1989 to examine the causes of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and issue recommendations on potential policy changes. Cowper appointed Walter B. Parker, a longtime transportation consultant and public official, as the chairman of the commission. Under Parker, the Commission issued 52 recommendations for improvements to industry, state, and federal regulations. 50 of these recommendations were worked into the Oil Pollution Act bill that was introduced into legislation on March 16, 1989 by Walter B. Jones, Sr., a
Yellow River oil spill 5 January, Zhang Xun, an official of the Ministry of Environmental Protection confirmed that the spill had been contained in the Sanmenxia reservoir and was no longer a threat to the river water downstream. Yellow River oil spill The Yellow River oil spill was an oil spill in the Yellow River in Shaanxi, China which took place due to the rupturing of a segment of Lanzhou-Zhengzhou oil pipeline on December 30, 2009. Approximately of diesel oil flowed down the Wei River before finally reaching the Yellow River, the source of drinking water for millions of people, on January 4, 2010.