The grounding of the oil tanker '' Exxon Valdez '' in Prince William Sound on March 24 , 1989 , produced extensive contamination of the Kenai Fjords coastline . By early April , Park Service personnel established oil containment boom lines across the mouths of salmon streams and conducted preliminary inventories of plants and animals that might be affected by the oil . The first oil arrived on April 10 . In time , about of coastline was oiled , amounting to about 4 % of the total coastline . Headlands were the most affected areas . The oil did not reach the fjords , repelled by heavy spring water flows from the land . Clean-up was difficult , as the oil became a tarry emulsion that could not be skimmed , and had to be dredged . The first season 's work stopped in September . Work resumed the next year and continued in 1991 . That year Exxon settled with the federal and Alaskan governments , paying about $ 870 million into a restoration fund , some of which was earmarked for Kenai Fjords
extensive contamination
Exxon Valdez oil spill
Kenai Fjords National Park