Walter B. Parker Act, which was signed into law in 1980 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling an estimated 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major environmental disaster for the state. Governor Steve Cowper, who held office at the time of the spill, appointed Walter Parker as the chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission in 1989. The Alaska Oil Spill Commission was created by the Alaska state government to investigate the causes of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Mary A. Whalen (tanker) Co.", a pivotal 1975 Supreme Court decision in maritime law after she ran aground in Rockaway Inlet in 1968. She was in active service until 1994. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. PortSide NewYork has more information about her in their e-museum Red Hook WaterStories. Mary A. Whalen (tanker) Mary A. Whalen, known as the "S.T. Kiddoo" from 1938 to 1958, is a historic oil tanker located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. She is the home of the non-profit PortSide NewYork, and the group runs programs aboard her.