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
Oil spill governance in the United States Intervention on the High Seas in Cases of Oil Pollution Casualties (the Intervention Convention) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78). The most important international organisations that contribute to oil spill governance in the U.S. include the International Maritime Organization (IMO), International Spill Control Organisation (ISCO) and the Association of Petroleum Industry Managers (APICOM). The oil spill framework in the U.S. employs a multilateral system of governance where the federal authorities, NGO's and private parties are all actively involved in response and cleanup procedures. Although the U.S. government plays an important role in regulating