The Exxon Valdez, the tanker responsible for the worst oil spill in American history, has come back into the news this week, as the Supreme Court finally decides the price that Exxon will pay for ruining the fishing industry in Alaska. But it will likely surprise you to know that the Valdez spill was actually only the 34th largest oil spill in history.

These ten oil spills, all massively larger than the Exxon Valdez, were all smaller new stories, either because the ships were offshore, or dropped their toxic loads in less developed parts of the world. The Valdez spilled 10 million gallons off the coast of Alaska, the smallest spill in the top ten was four times larger.

1. Kuwait - 1991 - 520 million gallons
   Iraqi forces opened the valves of several oil tankers in order to slow the invasion of American troops. The oil slick was four inches thick and covered 4000 square miles of ocean.
2. Mexico - 1980 - 100 million gallons
   An accident in an oil well caused an explosion which then caused the well to collapse. The well remained open, spilling 30,000 gallons a day into the ocean for a full year.
3. Trinidad and Tobago - 1979 - 90 million
   During a tropical storm off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, a Greek oil tanker collided with another ship, and lost nearly its entire cargo.
4. Russia - 1994 - 84 million gallons
   A broken pipeline in Russia leaked for eight months before it was noticed and repaired.
5. Persian Gulf - 1983 - 80 million gallons
   A tanker collided with a drilling platform which, eventually, collapsed into the sea. The well continued to spill oil into the ocean for seven months before it was repaired.
6. South Africa - 1983 - 79 million gallons
   A tanker cought fire and was abandoned before sinking 25 miles off the coast of Saldanha Bay.
7. France - 1978 - 69 million gallons
   A tanker's rudder was broken in a severe storm, despite several ships responding to its distress call, the ship ran aground and broke in two. It's entire payload was dumped into the English Channel.
8. Angola - 1991 - more than 51 million gallons
   The tanker expolded, exact quantity of spill unknown
9. Italy - 1991 - 45 million gallons
   The tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Italy and continued leaking it's oil into the ocean for 12 years.
10. Odyssey Oil Spill - 1988 - 40 million gallons
    700 nautical miles off the cost of Nova Scotia.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a disaster, but so were the 33 oil spills that were, in fact, worse. Spills have slowed down in recent years, due to advances in logistics and tanker hulls. There are no longer any new single-hulled tankers being built...but there are still plenty that haven't yet been decommissioned.

But as long as we're dependent on the stuff, there will be accidents, as there were three in 2007 alone, one of over 3 million gallons of oil.

Thanks to Wikipedia and Associated Content