ED DANAHUE
March 24, 1989: One of the worst oil spills in U.S. history began
when the supertanker Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by
the Exxon Corporation, ran aground on a reef in Prince William
Sound in southern Alaska. An estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water.
Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and
wind and currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its
source, eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline.
Hundreds of thousands of birds and animals were adversely
affected by the environmental disaster.