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Alyeska, the pipeline

management
company first
assumed
responsibility for the
cleanup, in
accordance with the
area's contingency
planning.
Preparedness must
be strengthened.
Exxon was not
prepared for a spill of
this magnitude--nor
were Alyeska

Three methods were tried


in the effort to clean up
the spill:
Burning
Mechanical Cleanup
Chemical Dispersants

Oil was transferred from the Exxon Valdez (left) to


the Exxon Baton Rouge (right), in a successful effort
to keep the oil remaining on the Exxon Valdez from
spilling into Prince William Sound. About one-fifth of
the oil carried by the Exxon Valdez was spilled; the
remaining 42 million gallons of oil was safely
transferred to the Baton Rouge.

After the remaining cargo was offloaded and the


Exxon Valdez was refloated, the vessel was moved
to Outside Bay, southwest of Naked Island, where
temporary repairs were made. Here, you can see it
at anchor in Outside Bay, surrounded by protective
boom.

During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of


oil, such as the sheen visible in this photograph,
covered large areas of the surface of Prince William
Sound.

Gradually the
oil spread
further and
further from
the accident
site.
Within a week
the oil had
spread 90 miles
down the coast

A trial burn took place during the early stages of the oil spill.
Two ships attached a fire-resistant boom between them and
moved slowly through the spill until the boom was full of oil.
The two ships then towed it a safe distance from the spill
and the oil was lit. Therefore the ensuing fire did not
endanger the Exxon Valdez or the oil spill, however,
because of continuing unfavourable weather no further
burning was attempted.

As the spilled oil moved across the waters of Prince


William Sound, rescue workers tried to protect
especially sensitive locations, such as this salmon
hatchery in the eastern Sound, which they surrounded
with protective boom. Boom floats on the water
surface and is designed to act as a barrier to oil.

Beginning 3 days after the vessel grounded, a storm


pushed large quantities of fresh oil onto the rocky
shores of many of the beaches in the Knight Island
chain. In this photograph, pooled oil is shown stranded
in the rocks.

Eleven million gallons of


crude oil leaked into one
of the most bountiful
marine ecosystems on the
planet, killing 1000 to
2800 sea otters, as many
as 250,000 seabirds, over
300 harbor seals, and at
least 22 orca whales.

Within a week, currents and


winds pushed the slick 90
miles from the site of the
mishap, out of Prince
William Sound and into the
Gulf of Alaska. It eventually
oozed nearly 600 miles away
from the wreck,
contaminating 1,500 miles of
shoreline.

Oil being skimmed from the sea surface. Here,


two boats are towing a collection boom. Oil
concentrated within the boom is being picked up
by the skimmer (the vessel at the apex of the
boom).

NOAA scientists at work


in the spill response
command center at Valdez.
Some of their projects
included forecasting the
movement and fate of
floating oil,
identifying sensitive
environments,
evaluating results of
surveys of shoreline oiling,
studying the effects of
shoreline cleanup
methods,.

and coordinating
scientific activities
during the response

Workers using highpressure, hot-water


washing to clean an
oiled shoreline.
In this treatment
method, used on many
Prince William Sound
beaches, oil is hosed
from beaches,
collected within
floating boom, then
skimmed from the
water surface.

Bags of Exxon Valdez cleanup debris await disposal.


Much of the debris collected during the Exxon Valdez
cleanup was eventually deposited in a landfill in
Oregon State, the closest facility certified to
properly handle the waste.

The Exxon Valdez accident


was America's worst oil spill

The $5bn punitive damages Exxon Mobil was


ordered to pay after America's worst oil
spill has been ruled excessive by a US
federal appeals court.

Nine years later, Hazelwood starts serving sentence


ANCHORAGE - Capt. Joseph Hazelwood donned an apron
and latex gloves this morning to work at an Anchorage
soup kitchen, where he will spend the next month doing
community service.

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