Title: Exxon Valdez 25th Anniversary: 5 Facts About the Historic Spill | Live Science
Headings: Exxon Valdez 25th Anniversary: 5 Facts About the Historic Spill
Exxon Valdez 25th Anniversary: 5 Facts About the Historic Spill
1. The ship went back to work
2. Wildlife suffered
3. Cleanup measures were scrutinized
4. Oil still lingers
5. It prompted the Oil Pollution Act

Content: Cleanup measures were scrutinized
Some small areas of the Prince William Sound were intentionally not cleaned because the oil spill offered environmental officials a chance to study cleanup measures, comparing how untreated areas fared against regions cleaned with high-pressure, hot water washing hoses. This type of aggressive washing works, but it can kill plants and animals in the long term and short term, officials confirmed after the Exxon Valdez spill, according to NOAA. Cleanup workers often combine this technique with other methods like containing and collecting oil so that it doesn't disperse elsewhere. 4. Oil still lingers
More than two decades after the spill, oil pockets are still found below the surface of beaches, often in places protected from winds and waves, which would help to break down and remove remaining crude. Along the Shelikof Strait coastline southwest of the spill site, researchers recently found pockets of oil from the Exxon Valdez accident. The oil was hardly weathered, as it had been sheltered behind stable boulders, the scientists said in a presentation at the American Geophysical Union's annual Ocean Sciences Meeting. 5. It prompted the Oil Pollution Act
Largely in response to the Exxon Valdez spill, the Oil Pollution Act became law in 1990. The move required oil companies to make contingency plans to prevent future spills and contain them should a spill occur.