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History Logo

HomeTopics1980sExxon Valdez Oil Spill


Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
BY: HISTORY.COM EDITORS

UPDATED: MARCH 23, 2021 | ORIGINAL: MARCH 9, 2018

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Oil Spill in Alaska Teams of firefighters cleaning the Alaskan coast following the
Exxon Valdez oil spill. (Photo by jean-Louis Atlan/Sygma via Getty Images)
JEAN-LOUIS ATLAN/SYGMA VIA GETTY IMAGES
Table of Contents
Oil Spill Cleanup
Environmental And Economic Impacts
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Fate of Exxon Valdez
Sources
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. The
Exxon Valdez oil slick covered 1,300 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of
thousands of seabirds, otters, seals and whales. Nearly 30 years later, pockets of crude
oil remain in some locations. 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.

At four minutes after midnight on March 24, the ship struck Bligh Reef, a well-known
navigation hazard in Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

The impact of the collision tore open the ship’s hull, causing some 11 million gallons
of crude oil to spill into the water.

At the time, it was the largest single oil spill in U.S. waters. Initial attempts to contain
the oil failed, and in the months that followed, the oil slick spread, eventually
covering about 1,300 miles of coastline.

Investigators later learned that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of Exxon Valdez, had
been drinking at the time and had allowed an unlicensed third mate to steer the
massive ship.

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