<P> The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound , Alaska , March 24 , 1989 , when Exxon Valdez , an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company , bound for Long Beach , California , struck Prince William Sound 's Bligh Reef at 12 : 04 am local time and spilled 10.8 million US gallons ( 260,000 bbl ; 41,000 m ) of crude oil over the next few days . It is considered to be one of the most devastating human - caused environmental disasters . The Valdez spill is the second largest in US waters , after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill , in terms of volume released . Prince William Sound 's remote location , accessible only by helicopter , plane , or boat , made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing response plans . The region is a habitat for salmon , sea otters , seals and seabirds . The oil , originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field , eventually covered 1,300 miles ( 2,100 km ) of coastline , and 11,000 square miles ( 28,000 km ) of ocean . </P>
<P> The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound , Alaska , March 24 , 1989 , when Exxon Valdez , an oil tanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company , bound for Long Beach , California , struck Prince William Sound 's Bligh Reef at 12 : 04 am local time and spilled 10.8 million US gallons ( 260,000 bbl ; 41,000 m ) of crude oil over the next few days . It is considered to be one of the most devastating human - caused environmental disasters . The Valdez spill is the second largest in US waters , after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill , in terms of volume released . Prince William Sound 's remote location , accessible only by helicopter , plane , or boat , made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing response plans . The region is a habitat for salmon , sea otters , seals and seabirds . The oil , originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field , eventually covered 1,300 miles ( 2,100 km ) of coastline , and 11,000 square miles ( 28,000 km ) of ocean . </P>
how far did the exxon valdez oil spill travel
how far did the exxon valdez oil spill travel
1,300 miles ( 2,100 km ) of coastline , and 11,000 square miles ( 28,000 km ) of ocean
1,300 miles ( 2,100 km ) of coastline , and 11,000 square miles ( 28,000 km ) of ocean