The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a manmade disaster that occurred when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by the Exxon Shipping Company, spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. It was the worst oil spill in U.S. history until the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.
What happened to Exxon Valdez in 1989?
Exxon Valdez oil spill, massive oil spill that occurred on March 24, 1989, in Prince William Sound, an inlet in the Gulf of Alaska, Alaska, U.S. The incident happened after an Exxon Corporation tanker, the Exxon Valdez, ran aground on Bligh Reef during a voyage from Valdez , Alaska, to California.
What happened to the Exxon Valdez after the oil spill?
After the spill, Exxon Valdez returned to service under a different name, operating for more than two decades as an oil tanker and ore carrier . On the evening of March 23, 1989, Exxon Valdez left the port of Valdez, Alaska, bound for Long Beach, California, with 53 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil onboard.
What caused the Exxon Valdez to crash?
Various reports following the accident have identified a number of factors that made Exxon Valdez ran aground on the reef under the command of Captain Joseph Hazelwood. ... Reports also said the accident occurred as the ship took a route which was not prescribed under the normal shipping route.
Who was responsible for the Exxon Valdez accident?
Hazelwood , who was found guilty of negligence for his role in the massive oil spill in Prince William Sound in 1989, successfully argued that he was entitled to immunity from prosecution because he had reported the oil spill to authorities 20 minutes after the ship ran aground.
Is there still oil from the Exxon Valdez?
A small portion of the oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill still lingers in patches beneath Prince William Sound, Alaska, beaches. However, this and other studies suggests the remaining oil is sequestered , or buried, and currently is not posing a risk to the coastal and marine ecosystem.
Is Prince William Sound Clean?
On the surface, Prince William Sound appears to have recovered . But you don't have to dig too deep—into the soil or into memories—to find the spill's lingering effects.
What did we learn from the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
It decimated salmon fisheries. It killed hundreds of harbor seals and thousands of sea otters . It wiped out hundreds of thousands of sea birds, and billions of salmon and herring eggs. The “highly unlikely” devastated 28 types of animals, from mussels and clams to salmon, bald eagles, cormorants, and killer whales.
How much oil was spilled in the Exxon Valdez?
On March 24, 1989, shortly after midnight, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling more than 11 million gallons of crude oil.
What were the long term effects of the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
A new study released today into the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska shows that embryonic salmon and herring exposed to very low levels of crude oil can develop hidden heart defects that compromise their later survival , indicating that the spill may have had much greater impacts on spawning fish ...
How was the fishing industry affected by the crash of the Exxon Valdez Site 1?
Answer: The oil contaminated 1,300 miles of coastline . Most of the fisheries closed due to people not wanting to get poisoned by contaminated fish and people still today do not fish there for this reason. Some species of fish never fully recovered.
What is the largest oil spill in history?
On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon , operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations.
What has Exxon done to compensate for the damages caused in Valdez?
Since Exxon has paid about $507 million to compensate more than 32,000 Alaska Natives, landowners and commercial fishermen for the damage caused by the spill, it should have to pay no more than that amount in punitive damages, Justice Souter said.
How much money did it cost to clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill?
Exxon Valdez oil spill costs exceeded $7 billion
Cleanup alone cost in the region of US $2.5 billion and total costs (including fines, penalties and claims settlements) have, at times been estimated at as much as US $7 billion.”
How long did it take the Exxon crews to clean up the oil?
5.8 million gallons of oil drained from the ship within 3 hours and 15 minutes .
