Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Timeline

The tanker left the terminal at 9:12 p.m., March 23, 1989 (the deck log shows that it was clear of the dock at 9:21 p.m.), loaded with 53,094,510 gallons (1,264,155 barrels) of crude oil bound for California.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major environmental disaster that occurred in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. It became the largest oil spill in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in terms of volume of oil released, devastating the region's pristine ecosystem and wildlife.

A 1989 report by the Coast Guard's U.S. authorities examined the circumstances of the grounding and the subsequent cleanup efforts, contributing to the official understanding of how the disaster unfolded and what failures allowed it to happen.

In 2009, Captain Hazelwood offered a "heartfelt apology" to the people of Alaska, suggesting he had been wrongly blamed for the disaster: "The true story is out there for anybody who wants to look at the facts, but that's not the sexy story and that's not the easy story," he said.

In 1991, following the collapse of populations of local marine species (particularly clams, herring, and seals), the Chugach Alaska Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, illustrating the economic devastation wrought on local communities.

In 1992, Exxon released a video titled Scientists and the Alaska Oil Spill for distribution to schools, part of the company's public relations effort to shape public perception of the spill and its aftermath.

A study by the National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA in Juneau, determined that by 2001 approximately 90 tonnes of oil remained on beaches in Prince William Sound in the sandy soil of the contaminated shoreline, with annual loss rates declining from 68% per year prior to 1992, to 4% per year after 2001.

In 2010, CNN reported on studies concluding that many oil spill cleanup workers involved in the Exxon Valdez response had subsequently become sick, and warned those exposed to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to take heed.

According to a report by David Kirby for TakePart, the main component of the Corexit formulation used during cleanup, 2-butoxyethanol, was identified as "one of the agents that caused liver, kidney, lung, nervous system, and blood disorders among cleanup crews in Alaska following the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill."

Image source: Corexit

As of 2012, the indirect and long-term sublethal effects of oil on shorebirds had been measured in relatively few studies, leaving gaps in scientific understanding of the spill's lingering ecological consequences.

Although the volume of oil has declined considerably, with oil remaining only about 0.14–0.28% of the original spilled volume, studies suggest that the area of oiled beach has changed little since 1992, showing how persistent the contamination proved to be.

On March 24, 2014, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the spill, NOAA scientists reported that some species seem to have recovered, with the sea otter the latest creature to return to pre-spill numbers, offering cautious optimism about the ecosystem's recovery.