Emergency Response
Emergency Response
Emergency Response
Pollutants in the Environment
Serving Communities
Natural Resource Restoration

Information for:
Emergency Responders
Students and Teachers
Interested Public
Research Institutions
Other Agencies

Current News
Special Note
FAQs

Catalogs of:
Publications
Software & Data Sets
Web Portals
Links
Downloads
Image Galleries
Abandoned Vessels
Drift Card Studies

About OR&R
Contact Us
Advanced Search
Site Index
Privacy Policy
Document Accessibility

Emergency ResponseHome | Image Galleries | Emergency Response

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Photos taken after the tanker Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in the upper part of Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The tanker was carrying approximately 53 million gallons of crude oil. Within a few days, it had spilled almost 11 million gallons of the oil into Prince William Sound.

Click on the image to return to the gallery

Workers spray oiled rocky shore with hot water

Exxon Valdez - high-pressure, hot-water washing

Workers using high-pressure, hot-water washing to clean an oiled shoreline. In this treatment method, used on many Prince William Sound beaches, oil is hosed from beaches, collected within floating boom, then skimmed from the water surface. Other common treatment methods included cold-water flushing of beaches, manual beach cleaning (by hand or with absorbent pom-poms), bioremediation (application of fertilizers to stimulate growth of local bacteria, which degrade oil), and the mechanical relocation of oiled sediments to places where they could be cleaned by wave and tide action.

(08.25.04, unknown)

Related Pages on Our Site
  • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Overview of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Includes links to many related resources, including photo galleries.
  • Response to the Exxon Valdez Spill Within hours after the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, a team of NOAA OR&R scientists arrived on-scene.
NOAA logo