| Exxon Valdez oil spill | |
|---|---|
 U.S. Navy landing craft anchored ashore as numerous personnel position hoses during oil clean-up efforts on Smith Island on May 11, 1989 | |
 | |
| Location | Prince William Sound, Alaska |
| Coordinates | 60°50′24″N 146°51′45″W / 60.8400°N 146.8625°W |
| Date | March 24, 1989 |
| Cause | |
| Cause | Grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker |
| Operator | Exxon Shipping Company |
| Spill characteristics | |
| Volume | 10.8×106 US gal (260,000 bbl; 41,000 m3) (or 37,000 metric tonnes) |
| Shoreline impacted | 1,300 mi (2,100 km) |
The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major environmental disaster that occurred in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The spill occurred when Exxon Valdez, an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, 6 mi (9.7 km) west of Tatitlek, Alaska at 12:04 a.m. The tanker spilled more than 10 million US gallons (240,000 bbl) (or 37,000 tonnes)[1] of crude oil over the next few days.[2]
The Exxon Valdez spill is the second largest in U.S. waters, after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in terms of volume of oil released.[3][4] Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane, or boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and made existing response plans especially hard to implement. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals, and seabirds. The oil, extracted from the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, eventually affected 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline, of which 200 miles (320 km) were heavily or moderately oiled.[2][5][6]
- ^ "Properties of Prudhoe Bay (2004) (ESTS #679)" (PDF). Environment and Climate Change Canada. Government of Canada. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 7, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
faqwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
historieswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Leahy, Stephen (March 22, 2019). "Exxon Valdez changed the oil industry forever – but new threats emerge". National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 25, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
SpillAroundUswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Shigenaka, Gary (2014). "Twenty-Five Years After the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: NOAA's Scientific Support, Monitoring, and Research" (PDF). Office of Response and Restoration. Seattle: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 17, 2017.