Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 "Exxon Valdez" spill. Mechanical cleanup was started shortly afterwards using booms and skimmers, but the skimmers were not readily available during the first 24 hours following the spill, and thick oil and kelp tended to clog the equipment. Despite civilian insistence for a complete clean, only 10% of total oil was actually completely cleaned. Exxon was widely criticized for its slow response to cleaning up the disaster and John Devens, the mayor of
Oil Spill Response Limited Oil Spill Response Limited Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) is a British firm specializing in the global fight against oil spills. The company was founded in 1985 and employs about 300 people at nine locations. Shareholders are all major oil companies such as BHP Billiton, Chevron Corporation, Eni, ExxonMobil, Petronas, Saudi Aramco, Royal Dutch Shell, Statoil and Total. OSRL is the largest industry-developed and co-financed by the cooperative for emergency response. As such, the company's focus is not on the generation of profits. Funding is provided by the annual contributions of its 44 stakeholders and 118 extraordinary members, as well