Washington State is a major crude oil refining center also known for its high quality of life and salmonproducing waters.The state is dependent economically on a variety of waterway uses,including Pacific Rim trade,aquaculture,tribal culture,tourism,commercial fishing,and recreational boating.Since the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990(OPA 90)and the establishment of the Washington State spill prevention program in 1991,federal and state government,in conjunction with industry,have made considerable investments in spill prevention.During this intervening period,major oil spills from all sources,particularly vessels,have declined substantially.This study evaluated the overall effectiveness of these prevention efforts by comparing data on the rate of significant vessel oil spills and vessel casualties in Washington State with national data,and with data from three other key coastal states with busy ports and high vessel traffic-California,New York,and Texas.Overall,Washington appears to be significantly ahead of the United States as a whole in terms of reduction in the number of vessel spills,as well as by rates of spillage by tonnage transport and transit.Washington is ahead of the states of California,New York,and Texas in some categories of comparison but not others.The rate of reduction in vessel spills in Washington,however,was considerably greater than the other coastal states studied.It is hard to demonstrate the value of spill prevention programs.The difficulty lies in the inability to count spills that have not occurred as a result of increased diligence on the part of the private and public sectors.However,it is clear from this study that spill prevention programs do work,and that the reduced frequency of major spills is not a reason for complacency.
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