Exxon Valdez Oil Spill – 20 Years Later

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was one of the largest oil spills in history. It took place in Alaska in March 1989, when the oil tanker ran aground, causing 10.8 million gallons of crude oil to spill into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound. While this was indeed a huge spill, it was actually only a small fraction of what the United States uses in oil in any one day. The United States uses about 700 million gallons of oil every day. That is a lot of oil.


When an oil spill occurs, everyone works to help clean it up. Have you ever noticed a rainbow puddle on the street or parking lot after a rain? That rainbow sheen that you see on top of the water is actually oil from cars that has leaked onto the ground.


For Steve Smith, the 20-year anniversary of the nation's worst oil spill is like a reminder that he lost a loved one.


"It's like a death in the family," the 70-year-old fisherman said of the Exxon Valdez disaster. "With time it gets a little better, but the pain never really goes away. Until this generation passes on, I don't think it will ever really be over."


Smith is among the scores of residents of Cordova and other communities whose lives were forever changed on March 24, 1989. That's when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground at Alaska's Bligh Reef, spewing 11 million gallons of crude into the rich fishing waters of Prince William Sound. The legal and environmental repercussions are still felt today.


"It's hard to keep dwelling on this thing that has caused so much pain in this community," said executive director Rochelle van den Broek. "The term 'anniversary' kind of offends a lot of fishermen. The term implies celebration and there's nothing to celebrate."


















Spill Map – 470 mile long Oil Slick in Alaska waters


The spill killed hundreds of thousands of birds and other marine animals, inflicting environmental injuries that have not fully recovered, according to numerous scientific studies.


















Oily Sea Birds












Oily Sea Otters


National Geographic Channel



At 9:12 p.m. on March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez departed the loading terminal and headed out to sea into Prince William Sound, Alaska. There were several people in charge of the ship. The pilot William Murphy, the captain Joe Hazelwood and the helmsmen Harry Claar all were challenged to steer the 986 ft. ship . . . carrying 53,094,510 gallons of oil . . . through the Valdez Narrows. Navigating through the Valdez Narrows is exceptionally challenging because of the Bligh Reef, which makes the narrows just 500 ft. wide.


That night the Exxon Valdez came across an iceberg, so Captain Hazelwood ordered the helmsmen to turn the ship out of the shipping lanes and around the iceberg. Later that evening the wheelhouse was turned over to Third Mate Gregory Cousins and Helmsman Robert Kagan. They were given specific instructions to turn the ship back into the shipping lanes at a certain point to avoid the reef. However, due to reasons unknown at this time, the helmsmen did not steer the vessel back to the channel, and at 12:04 a.m. on March 24, the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling 10.8 million gallons into Price William Sound.


It is unclear who was at fault. The captain was seen drinking at a local bar and had alcohol in his blood several hours after the accident, but he was asleep when the boat ran aground. Was it his fault? The prolonged court battle has left many with ill feelings toward Hazelwood, Exxon, and the court system.


Outwardly things look much like it did before that fateful night but if you go to the shores or beaches and dig just a little under the rocks you can still see reminders of what occurred on a spring night in this small hub in Alaska.


Here are a few reminders of what took the innocence of from this beautiful part of Alaska and hopefully we have learned not to let it happen again as we attempt to satisfy our energy needs.













The Cleanup Effort














After 20 years the Oil is still there


We can only hope that everyone has learned much from this accident, many changes were implemented to safely get the tankers in and out of Prince William Sound, and those impacted by the loss of their fishing livelihood and the rugged lifestyle that is Alaska can only hope the oil companies will eventually settle the court battle before everyone impacted dies without knowing that Exxon made right the damage their tanker caused so long ago.


Ice


* Photos from various archive sources


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