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Jane Vaeth
Ms. Higgins
8 Americas Past – Period 3
28 May 2011
The Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill of 1989
Did you know that on 24 March 1989, the Exxon-Valdez tanker spilled 10.8
million gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound? It was the largest oil spill
ever in North America. Around midnight the ship was crossing the Prince William
Sound. The captain of the tanker, Joseph Hazelwood, only left one person on the bridge
when there should have been two. Also, Joseph Hazelwood was drinking alcohol which
could have impaired his judgment. One of the crewmen spotted ice ahead, so, they turned
off of their normal route. The tanker was difficult to turn because it was so large. As a
result of this, the tanker went too far off course and struck Bligh Reef. There were rocks
about forty feet below the surface of the water, which is what the tanker hit and slid
against. The Exxon-Valdez wasn’t double hulled because the law stated that you need a
double hull by 2015. Exxon decided to wait; for a double hull is 300 million dollars and a
single is 200 million dollars. However having a double hull could have made the spill
sixty percent smaller. The tanker carries fifty-three million gallons (200 million liters) of
crude oil. Out of all of the oil in the tanker twenty-one percent (11 million gallons or 42
million liters) of the oil spilled. The tanker had ballast tanks which can alter the amount
of water it holds for steadiness of the ship. There are also different tanks to hold the oil
and most of them were damaged. For example, the forward tank was roughly damaged,
four central tanks were torn open, the fifth central tank was somewhat damaged, on of the
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ballast tanks was destroyed, and the tanks in the rear were slightly damaged. On the other
hand, the oil covered 2,490 kilometers (1,548 miles) of shoreline. In the beginning of
cleanup, the weather and sea were neutralized and they thought it would stay that way.
Unfortunately, a fierce storm came and washed the oil onto beaches and away from the
wreck. The commander of the tanker was William Murphy, a harbor boat pilot. A harbor
boat pilot usually travels through heavily populated, hazardous waters. About twelve
hours after the incident there were still no emergency services. After two days the oil
covered twenty-nine miles. On day 7, it covered 90 miles. On day 11, 140 miles; on day
15, 180 miles; on day 56, the oil spread 470 miles. The clean-up crew pumped out the oil
left in the ship by the ninth of April which leads into the next topic of clean-up and
prevention. Exxon’s deadline for the clean-up to be finished was the fifteenth of
September. It included ten thousand workers and throughout the summer they hired about
one thousand more. The workers were known as “Exxon’s Army”. Additionally, the Air
Force, Navy, and Army assisted with the clean-up. It took one thousand boats, one
hundred airplanes. The spill affected 1,300 miles and took about 4 summers (1989-92).
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company added Service Escort Response Vessels (SERVS) to
try to eliminate the chances of another spill happening. If one does occur, then, they will
be better prepared to respond. The clean-up was ineffective because every time the crew
would clean one part of the beach, the tide would change and the beach would be covered
with oil again. For example, after seventy-two hours, one percent of the oil was cleaned.
To clean the bigger rocks, they would use steam hoses. They would have to wipe down
the smaller rocks. When midsummer came, the clean-up crews used a new way to clean
the beaches. Microorganisms were sprayed on the beach to eat the oil. Moreover, there
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were also new materials for wiping operations. This time, clean-up was effective but
slow. In the 1990’s, a much smaller crew was sent to the Prince William Sound area to
continue the cleaning. Some methods for cleanup include the following. A boom barrier
drags oil and is also used as an absorbent. Burning the oil was another method but there is
a downside. For example, it causes smoke which is harmful to many organisms and could
promote the greenhouse effect. It can only be used if the oil hasn’t been weathered into
the water because it would be difficult to start a spark. Dispersants make oil into a
smaller mass. A skimmer takes oil off of the surface of the water. For the beach, you
could use bioremediation which is a fertilizer that, by using carbon, breaks up the oil’s
bond (the fertilizer includes organisms). Chemical solvent is mostly kerosene without the
toxic materials in it. Hot water and pressure would be used by crews wearing hard hats
and rain gear. They would use fire hoses to rinse off oil. There were also manual
treatments such as using garden tool (rakes and shovels), bare hands, or materials that
absorb. In addition to manual treatment, there are mechanical treatments too. For
instance, farm tools such as tractors, front-end loaders and backhoes. Today the ships that
carry oil are tougher. Service Escort Response Vessels is also prepared for another spill
and the next time one does occur, clean-up will begin immediately. The crew designed
big hoses to get oil off of the surface of the water. The initial responses were slow for a
big oil spill. The same day, they sent two ships that were ready to clean the oil. Then, by
the morning of the next day (the twenty-fifth of March), deportation of the oil was started
by groups of workers. Authorities guided a test burn which meant that nearby they would
burn oil. Exxon had to pay five billion dollars plus money for the clean-up for the spill.
Joseph Hazelwood was sentenced to one thousand hours of community service which
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was cleaning the beaches, but it was appealed. Joseph Hazelwood ended up picking up
trash in 1999. He was found guilty of dumping oil into the Prince William Sound. Some
of the oil under the rocks dried and hardened, it will remain there for several years.
Fishing was banned for years. The United States Coast Guard now keeps an all day watch
on the traffic in the harbor. Rescue boats and tugboats are always prepared. There are still
long-term damages of wildlife and land that was being evaluated. As a result of the spill,
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 now has major laws that now require emergency response
plans, double hulls, liability, spill fund, and navigation.
Many job opportunities opened up after the spill. For the spill and because of the
increase in the population, the prices of goods and rent increased tremendously in the
Prince William Sound area. The people who depended on the sea for food to eat or to sell
had to move to get a different job. There was one community that was especially affected
by the spill and that was Chenega. They, for the most part, survived how their ancestors
did (the Native Americans). They depended on fishing and catching mussels. When the
oil spill happened however, the lives of the people of Chenega changed forever. Even
though the scientists said it was okay to eat the seafood, the people in Chenega didn’t
believe them. Many people left their homes in search of new jobs. Some even worked by
helping with cleaning up the oil. The population is about half the size it was before the
crisis (in Chenega). During cleanup the population increased greatly from thirty-five
hundred to thirteen thousand. Hotels were filled, empty bedrooms were rented, and tents
were used in vacant lots. Many families were making extra money by renting their cars to
others. There were no rental cars in town. The population increased boosting the
economy but with pros and cons. For example, there were many demands for water,
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electricity and sewage treatment. Not only humans were affected by this but animals were
too. Some suffering animals were sent to the zoo because they couldn’t live on their own.
Some were unable to reproduce because of the spill. Specifically, the oil killed twentytwo killer whales, four hundred loons, three hundred harbor seals, two hundred fifty bald
eagles, twenty eight hundred harbor seals, and countless fish. The population of the bald
eagles, killer whales, and salmon has since recovered. Other fish, the seal and sea otter
populations have not recovered. The populations are now much smaller and the fish
industry hasn’t recovered either. The seabirds, however, that landed in the water were
layered with oil so the cold water got right to their skin. Many birds died by getting too
cold or swallowing the oil in an attempt to clean itself, the clean up crews also attempted
to clean the birds. For example, to clean a bird, you dunk them in warm water and scrub
them with a tooth brush. Since the process was stressful for the birds, many of them died
during the process. Otters were also poisoned by the oil. When they would come to the
surface for a breath, they would go back under with oil. When the otters were cleaned
some of them died also. The rescue effort to, clean and remove otters from contaminated
waters to a healthy environment cost about eighty thousands. When the pink salmon
would lay eggs in the shallow streams, the oil would coat and killed the eggs. This
reduced the population. Since the sockeye salmon laid their eggs upstream and everyone
had stopped fishing in the waters where they lived in Alaska the population increased.
Since there was an increase of the sockeye population there food sources decreased
which in turn killed the herring which also shared the same food sources. The herrings
were starving. On top of the herring’s food supply being decreased, many of the herrings
in that area were suffering from a virus that caused a cut/open sore. The herring eggs
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floated on top of the water so they became coated with the oil. The herrings that did hatch
were often deformed. The environment was not the best at all at the time. The beaches
were smothered with oil along with the animals. Plants nearby were most likely affected
and it will take a long time to recover.
My interviewees name is Carrie Holba. Some of the requested information such
as date and place of birth, and the education were not answered. Carrie Holba works at
the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council (EVOSTC) in the resource information and
librarian’s services department and has been there for twenty years. At the trustees
council library they have many artifacts such as books from the beach, reports
photographs videos maps and more. I asked my interviewee if she believed that there was
a conscious effort on the part of Exxon to cover up the extent of the damage. She
answered with it being a common technique to downplay the harm done. Also, Exxon
promised more than they were able to deliver. In addition to that she also mentioned that
still there is a disagreement on the long term impact of the still. Another question that I
asked was, “Do you think Exxon could have done more to save wildlife?” Ms. Holba
answered by saying people in the nation was focused on the health of the animals. There
were also rehabilitation centers set up for animals to show that Exxon was doing their
best. A lot of money was spent on the animal’s rescues and rehabilitation. I asked how
many gallons of oil were lost. Her response was, ten million eight hundred thousand
gallons were spilled. About twenty three percent of the cargo was lost. I also asked, since
Exxon knew the extent of the damage and the effects if the environment, why wasn’t
action taken more quickly to assist in the control of this horrific accident? The next
question I asked was could this accident have been avoided? Ms. Holba said that the
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captain’s judgment was impaired due to alcohol. Many things could have been done to
avoid the accident. Let me explain my reaction to the interview. To begin, I was surprised
at how much information I didn’t get from research. There was so much more
information that the interviewee gave me which helped answer my focus questions.
“How did the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill of 1998 affect the environment and the people and
animals in it?” It helped knowing that the animals that were truly injured due to the spill
had so much money and effort put into them. The interview was very informative
because I learned many things that I wasn’t aware of prior to this project. All in all my
interview and research was helpful in answering my focus questions.
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Works Cited
Kelly, Jeffrey R. Prince William Sound: Paradise Lost? 2001-2002. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/10867/cleanup/methods/index.shtml>.
Markle, Sandra. After the Spill: the Exxon Valdez Disaster, Then and Now. New York: Walker
and, 1999. Print.
"Oil Spills." Web. 24 Mar. 2011. <http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm>.
Streissguth, Thomas. The Exxon Valdez: the Oil Spill off the Alaskan Coast. Mankato, MN:
Capstone High-Interest, 2003. Print.
"Valdez, Alaska History 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill." Valdez, Alaska | Home | History &
Adventure In Alaska's Glacier-FilledPrince William Sound. 2007. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
<http://199.238.132.174/history/oilSpill.html>.
Walker, Jane. Oil Spills. Mankato, MN: Stargazer, 2005. Print.