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Oil is a product used by everyone; however oil can sometimes be a big problem. An oil spill is a leakage of petroleum from an oil tanker or other vessel. Oil spills occur very frequently, and cause enormous ecological harm. About eight million barrels of oil are spilled each year. Tankers usually carry about five-hundred million barrels of oil. Many oil spills, large in land or ocean coverage, have had major impacts on the earth and its inhabitants. Many animals are dying and some are injured in some way. Many plants and animals are endangered, or are now extinct.
The largest oil spill to occur was when the Exxon Valdez went aground and covered 4,800 square miles in Prince William Sound, Alaska. This spill killed 35,000 sea birds, 10,000 otters, and at least nine whales. The spill left pools of oil up to three feet on some beaches. In December of 1989, an Iranian tanker leaked 70,000 tons, about 19 million gallons of oil off of the coast of Morocco. In January 1990 a broken Exxon pipe...