ADVISOR, March/April 1995
Interesting Facts about Oil Spills

- Just one quart of oil can contaminate up to a quarter million gallons of drinking water or cause an oil slick almost 2 acres in size.
- Oil destroys the waterproofing and insulating properties of plumage in birds by disrupting the microscopic structure of the feathers.
- Exposing the aerial portions of plants to petroleum products indirectly affects a plant's underground root system. Experimental evidence has showed that oil on vegetation reduces the oxygen diffusion out of both stems and roots.
- Backyard mechanics dump more used oil into Michigan's environment each year than the Exxon Valdez spilled into Alaska's Prince William Sound.

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Revised: May 10, 1996
Maintained by Christine Manninen, manninen@glc.org
http://www.glc.org/docs/advisor/95/oil/dyk.html