OPA '90 and Deepwater Horizon: A Law That Worked Better than Anyone Could Have Imagined

A few months ago, I authored an article for Marine News focused on just one of the many successful features of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (“OPA 90,” Pub. L. No. 101-380 (1990)) — Alaska’s regional citizen advisory councils (RCACs). The Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet RCACs were established under OPA 90 to work with oil and gas industry interests on behalf of the surrounding communities to ensure safe operations and community buy-in. I was heartened by the positive responses I received from friends, colleagues, and the general readership, which served as a reminder to me that OPA 90 more broadly is one of the best thought out and smartly crafted environmental statutes of our modern era. Accordingly, I think it is fitting here to revisit some of the largely forgotten events that led to the enactment of OPA 90, and to highlight some of the many effective and impactful features of the Act.

The TORREY CANYON, Ixtoc I, and the EXXON VALDEZ

The 1967 TORREY CANYON disaster marked a significant turning point in public thinking and awareness about oil spills, because of its impacts on coastal communities and the marine environment. It is a classic case of