Title: Exxon Valdez oil spill - Wikipedia
Headings: Exxon Valdez
oil spill

Exxon Valdez oil spill
Contents
Spill
Clean-up and major effects
Litigation and cleanup costs
Political consequences and reforms
Coast Guard report
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Alaska regulations
Economic and personal impact
Reactions
In popular culture
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Content: 41,000 m 3) (or 37,000 metric tonnes)
Shoreline impacted
1,300 mi (2,100 km)
The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company that was bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound 's Bligh Reef, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) west of Tatitlek, Alaska at 12:04 a.m. and spilled 10.8 million US gallons (257,000 bbl) (or 37,000 tonnes) of crude oil over the next few days. It is considered the worst oil spill worldwide in terms of damage to the environment. The Exxon Valdez spill is the second largest in U.S. waters, after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in terms of volume of oil released. Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane, or boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and made existing response plans especially hard to implement. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals, and seabirds. The oil, originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field, eventually affected 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline, of which 200 miles (320 km) were heavily or moderately oiled. Contents
1 Spill
2 Clean-up and major effects
3 Litigation and cleanup costs
4 Political consequences and reforms
4.1 Coast Guard report
4.2 Oil Pollution Act of 1990
4.3 Alaska regulations
5 Economic and personal impact
6 Reactions
6.1 In popular culture
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Spill
The ship was carrying 53.1 million US gallons (1,260,000 bbl; 201,000 m 3) of oil, of which approximately 10.8 million US gallons (260,000 bbl; 41,000 m 3) were spilled into the Prince William Sound. During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of oil covered large areas of the surface of Prince William Sound.