Trans-Alaska Pipeline Case Study

The opposition of the Trans-Alaska pipeline did their best to keep the pipeline from becoming established but their efforts where in vain. With oil prices high, and so much support coming from Washington and the lower 48 states, it wasn't long until the pipeline was constructed. However, the opposition would get another change to argue their points. In the spring of 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled its precious cargo in the Prince William Sound after it struck a reef, spilling between 11 and 32 million gallons of oil into the ocean (Haycox 1). This was the exact incident that those who opposed the pipeline feared. Due to the spill, commercial fishing in Alaska was shut down. To this day many of the fish populations have not come back