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Concerns for the Future
As the Trans-Alaska Pipeline neared completion in May 1977, Herblock questioned the soundness of its construction and potential problems that might arise. Curving, bandaged, and bent with kinks as it snakes over the land, the pipeline he depicts inspires little confidence and portends future disaster, as suggested by the SS Oilspill on the left. Welding finished on May 31, but problems delayed initial operation and oil did not reach Valdez until July 29, 1977. This scenario seemed prescient when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground not far from Valdez in 1989. |