Oil spill standard in the coastal regions. A VLCC tanker can carry of crude oil. This is about eight times the amount spilled in the widely known "Exxon Valdez" oil spill. In this spill, the ship ran aground and dumped of oil into the ocean in March 1989. Despite efforts of scientists, managers, and volunteers over 400,000 seabirds, about 1,000 sea otters, and immense numbers of fish were killed. Considering the volume of oil carried by sea, however, tanker owners' organisations often argue that the industry's safety record is excellent, with only a tiny fraction of a percentage of oil cargoes carried
Deepwater Horizon oil spill and payments to a trust fund had cost the company $42.2 billion. In September 2014, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that BP was primarily responsible for the oil spill because of its gross negligence and reckless conduct. In July 2015, BP agreed to pay $18.7 billion in fines, the largest corporate settlement in U.S. history. How the misuse of categorical exclusion for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance relates to this spill is described in Regulatory Capture. The "Deepwater Horizon" was a 10-year-old semi-submersible, mobile, floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in waters up to deep. Built