EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

When and What Happened? March 24, 1989 the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska creating a hole in the hull Estimated 11,000,000 gallons of crude oil spilled across 1,300 miles of coastline Captain of ship admitted to having had at least three drinks before boarding the ship; however, was not charged for it $5 billion in punitive damages against Exxon was determined in 1994; however, that decision has been appealed and overturned in court and payments have been delayed

The tanker was renamed and still carries oil around the world The tanker has been barred from ever entering Alaskan waters again Killed an estimated 100, ,000 seabirds, 5,000 sea otters, 200 harbor seals, and countless fish Oil smothered plants and animals and affected the pristine ecological environment

How to recover? How does an ecosystem respond to and recover from and incident like the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Cleanup consisted of corralling the oil with booms, skimming it from the water, soaking it up with absorbent materials, and dispersing it with chemicals Rocky beaches were pressure washed and sand was removed First uses of bioremediation used – using natural living organisms (bacteria) to biodegrade or break down the oil, enhancing the natural processes

Some species were able to bounce back and others were not, but it is unclear as to the reasons 30 resources or species were categorized in 2002 into the following categories: Not recovered – Harbor seal and Harlequin duck Recovery unknown - Cutthroat trout and Rockfish Subtidal communities Recovered - Archaeological resources, Bald eagle, Black oystercatcher, Common murre, Pink salmon, River otter, Sockeye salmon Recovering - Clams, Intertidal communities, Killer whale, Mussels, Sea otter, Sediments Human uses - Commercial fishing, passive use, recreation and tourism

Shoreline treatments Pressure washing cleaned oil, but some argued it killed more organisms than it saved Observed that normal degradation processes cleaned oil, in some areas faster than the invasive cleaning methods used Cleanup also included manual shoveling, raking and tilling the beaches; and oily debris pickup Nearly 100 miles of shoreline was treated with bioremediation agents Continual monitoring and data collection was and is ongoing

Economic impacts Hundreds of fishermen out of work Tourism dropped off significantly Because of the cleanup the town of Valdez grew three times its size, food and clothing stores came to town, and prices soared 10,000 workers were employed for the cleanup and other jobs were plentiful

Ecosystem response Toxic substances persist in the Alaskan ecosystem Toxicology studies are required to better understand long term effects from oil spill disasters Many indirect effects postponed recovery of many species of wildlife

Lessons learned Major improvements in oil spill prevention and response Environmental conditions (nutrients, bacteria, oxygen, temperature, and wave/tidal influence) should be considered in bioremediation Oil spills are known to cause severe and long-term damage to mangrove and salt marsh ecosystems