Alexander Pervizi 3/25/20

Exon Valdez Oil Spill Report:

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a disaster involving a leakage in the hull of the “Exxon Valdez” oil
tanker over the coast of Prince William Sound, Alaska. The devastation of the event can be exemplified
through the sheer quantity of oil that was released into the once clean waters of the Alaskan coast. The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that the spill incorporated over 11 million gallons of
crude oil; it was the largest oil spill in United States history. The tanker measured a whopping 987 feet
long, 166 feet wide and 88 feet deep in stature. The ship was at 81 percent capacity, carrying nearly 53
million gallons of oil, until it would eventually leak out 11 million gallons of it into the Alaskan coast.

The events of the Exxon Valdez oil spill have had a detrimental effect on the wildlife of the area.
The oil spill was said to have affected more than a thousand miles of the Alaskan coastline. The Alaskan
coastline is a very complex ecosystem that is also filled with many American food staples such as salmon
and trout. It was reported that as many as 250,000 seabirds, 300 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald
eagles and 22 killer whales were killed as a result of the leakage. Additionally, animals native to the
coastline are now suffering the effects of the oil, which imposes their movement and hinders animals
from living a natural lifestyle.

The oil has left a stain in the water quality of the Alaskan coast and the Pacific Ocean in general.
After the Exxon oil spill, the water was said to have a noticeable layer of thick foam above it, which
would entrap surfacing animals such as whales. Cleanup efforts by Exxon have limited the effects and
noticeability of the oil, but still, much more must be done to break up this oil. The deployed chemicals
that were said to break up surface oil did work to clump up oil, adding another texture to the surface.
Workers from Exxon are now working to clean up this oil, picking up clumped oil from the water’s
surface across the shore.

After the incident of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, regulation was imposed by the government to
make oil transportation safer. George H.W. Bush would eventually sign the Oil Pollution Act of 1990
which helped clean up future oil spills with the money payed in oil taxes. However, this act only provides
for improved cleanup efforts, rather than prevention. It is up to oil companies to be more careful in the
open waters, where an oil spill can mean the end of an ecosystem.
Work Cited:

Official Report: https://www.epa.gov/emergency-response/exxon-valdez-spill-profile

Size/Legislature: https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/significant-
incidents/exxon-valdez-oil-spill/after-big-spill-what-happened-s

Wildlife effects: https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2018/03/22/exxon-valdez-29-years-later/

Wildlife effects: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/oil-spills-30-years-after-

exxon-valdez/

https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/exxon-valdez-oil-spill