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On June 26,1989, the tanker lsquoWorld Prodigyrsquo ran aground just outside the mouth of the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA. About 922 metric tons of No. 2 fuel oil were released into the water and drifted over a total area of about 120 sq miles. Three days after the spill only a small fraction of the oil remained.
The effects on macrobenthic crustaceans within the first five weeks after the spill were studied at five stations with a varying degree of oil exposure, including one control site never reached by oil from the spill. Significant differencies between these stations were noted for total amphipod abundance, the amphipod genus Ampelisca and ostracods (retained on a 0.3 mm mesh), but not for amphipods of the genus Corophium. At the most heavily impacted station (23 µg oil g–1 sediment dry weight), the total amphipod abundance, dominated by Ampelisca verrilli, decreased by 86% within the first two weeks after the spill. Decreases in total amphipod abundance significantly larger than at the control site were noted also at two other stations, one of which with only trace amounts of oil detected in the sediment. The amphipod populations at these sites were dominated by juvenile specimens.
These findings confirm the extreme sensitivity to oil pollution of amphipods and ostracods, noted in earlier field and experimental studies

On January 19, 1996 the tugboat Scandia and barge North Cape grounded and caught fire off a Rhode Island beach, resulting in the largest oil spill in Rhode Island’s history and devastating losses of marine life and migratory birds in the Rhode Island and Block Island Sounds. A lobsterman who traps lobster approximately seventeen miles north of the spill filed suit in 2002 against those responsible for what is called the North Cape oil spill. The lobsterman’s catch in 2000 was less than half of his catch in 1996. The district court dismissed the claims on summary judgment because it found no actual and proximate cause between the oil spill in 1996 and the lobsterman’s depleted catch.

The North Cape Oil Spill
The weather forecast on January 18, 1996 predicted severe winter storms and high winds over Rhode Island on the day of the North Cape oil spill. Despite the storm warnings, the captain and crew of the Scandia set out for Rhode Island from New Jersey with four million gallons of home heating oil in tow. Failing to heed weather conditions, however, was not the Scandia’s only mistake. The North Cape was being towed without its anchor windlass, which was essential for raising and lowering the barge’s 6,000-pound anchor. Because the windlass was broken, the crew left it behind and depended on a wire and rope rigging to hold the anchor. The crew was instructed to use the makeshift replacement only in an emergency because its use was very difficult.

Emergency ensued as the Scandia ventured into the North Atlantic winter storm and the crew was unable to lower the North Cape’s 6,000-pound anchor because of the storm’s severity. The Scandia’s voyage ended when it and the barge grounded off a Rhode Island beach and caught fire, releasing 828,000 gallons of oil into the water and covering nine miles of Rhode Island shoreline. The vast area of affected waters was closed to fishing for several months. The spill had devastating effects on both marine life and migratory birds in the affected areas: authorities reported removing almost three million dead lobsters from Rhode Island beaches. The oil spill killed approximately nine million lobsters in Rhode Island and Block Island Sounds. A joint task force of federal and state agencies implemented a restoration plan for the oil spill in September of 1996 leading to the placement of 1.5 million lobsters in 2000 as part of the restoration p



I take the beer cans over this any dam time we can clean this crap up