Oil and Chemical Spills/Significant Incidents/Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Exxon Valdez offloading oil.

Response crews attempt to remove the remaining oil aboard the grounded tanker Exxon Valdez. (Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council)

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez grounded on Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, rupturing its hull and spilling nearly 11 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude oil into a remote, scenic, and biologically productive body of water.

Prior to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, it was the largest single oil spill in U.S. coastal waters. In the weeks and months that followed, the oil spread over a wide area in Prince William Sound and beyond, resulting in a previously unprecedented response and cleanup.

NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) was among the many local, state, federal, and private agencies and groups to provide immediate operational and scientific support during the assessment, response, and cleanup phases.

In the role of science advisers to the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, OR&R provided spill trajectory, resources at risk, and early spill impact information during the initial stages of the spill. Once the focus shifted from response to cleanup, OR&R addressed issues related to the effectiveness and environmental effects of cleanup technologies.

Learn more about OR&R's role in the emergency response, our work in Prince William Sound since the spill, and what lessons the Exxon Valdez spill offers for dealing with future oil spills.

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 scientists arrived on-scene.	NOAA's Long-Term Monitoring Program in Prince William Sound, Alaska From 1990 through 2000, OR&R biologists conducted a long-term ecological study to monitor the area of Prince William Sound, Alaska, affected by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill While the Exxon Valdez spill was an unfortunate incident, it provided a necessary impetus to reexamine the state of oil spill prevention, response, and cleanup.	The Never-ending History of Life on a Rock What can a rock tell us about ecosystem recovery after the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Check out what a NOAA scientist learned after visiting the same rock for more than 20 years and the unexpected legacy for citizen science in Alaska.
Lessons Learned From the Exxon Valdez Spill OR&R's goal is to use science to better understand physical and biological recovery after an oil spill like the Exxon Valdez, and then apply the lessons in future spill responses.	Mearns Rock: A Long-Term Study of Ecological Recovery In 1990, NOAA scientists began a long-term study of "Mearns Rock," a large boulder that was oiled but not cleaned during the Exxon Valdez oil spill, to examine how marine life recovers from oil spills. They have been photographing the boulder each year since.
More Than Two Decades Later, Have Killer Whales Recovered from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill? Twenty-three years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, we take a look at the possible effects the oil has had on the killer whales of Prince William Sound, Alaska. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill, we are taking the lessons we learned from killer whales down to the dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.	How Toxic Is Oil? There are many kinds of oil, and each is a complex mixture of chemicals. What are some ways oil can cause harm to living organisms?
What Is Weathering? What happens to oil when it interacts with the physical environment? Examining the remaining oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill can help us understand the process known as "weathering."	High-pressure, Hot-water Washing and Oil Spills Learn more about how high-pressure, hot-water washing works as a method to clean up oil spilled in coastal areas. The response to the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill employed this technique.