American Notes DISASTERS

More than a year after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gal. of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound, the U.S. still lacks the ability to cope speedily with such disasters. That shortcoming was dramatically illustrated last week when a Greek tanker crashed into three oil barges in the Houston Ship Channel near Galveston. Though Houston handles more crude oil than any other U.S. port, no fast-response cleanup team is stationed in Texas. By the time emergency crews from along the Gulf Coast arrived, 500,000 gal. of crude had leaked into the relatively shallow Galveston Bay, threatening shrimp, oysters, crabs and birds.

After the accident Congress passed a bill that had been languishing for years until the Alaskan catastrophe. Among other provisions, it establishes a $1 billion oil-cleanup fund and sets up 10 quick-response teams, one in each Coast Guard district. The action came too late for Galveston Bay.