North Cape oil spill recovered in the weeks following the spill. US federal and Rhode Island state governments undertook considerable work to clean up the spill and restore lost fishery stocks and coastal marine habitat. The "North Cape" oil spill is considered a significant legal precedent in that it was the first major oil spill in the continental U.S. after the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, resulting from the "Exxon Valdez" oil spill in Alaska on March 24, 1989. Of the many affected communities, one important habitat was the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is nearly 800 acres in
Montara oil spill causes and effects of the spill. Since the spill in August 2009 Martin Ferguson has signed 120 new gas and oil exploration licenses but has still not imposed any regulations on deep sea oil drilling. Elmer Danenberger, who used to be in charge of regulatory affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, claimed that Halliburton had done a poor job cementing, a process that is supposed to fill the gaps around the casing with cement to prevent leaks of oil and gas, probably causing the spill. On 24 November 2010, Australian Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson released the Report