Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On March 24th, 1989, an oil tanker traveling to Los Angeles from Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Helmsman Robert Kagan was steering the tanker at the time, for unexplained reasons he had traded positions with Helmsman Harry Claar. Claar had taken the tanker out of the usual shipping lanes to avoid ice, on captain's orders. When Kagan took over, he failed to re-direct the tanker back into the shipping lanes, causing the ship to hit the reef. Eight of eleven tanks were damaged, and within 6 hours almost 11 million gallons of oil had spilled into the ocean. Two clean-up methods that were known to be 98% effective were decided upon, dispersements and surface-burning, but on March 26th, 1989 a storm came that turned most of the oil into a mousse-like substance, and new clean-up methods had to be found. Skimmers were employed, but their pumps had difficulty with the thick oil, so vaccuums also had to be brought in. The clean up took over three years and $2.1 billion. The Exxon Valdez oil spill harmed countless habitats and killed millions of living organisms, and the long-term effects are still being study today.