Map of Exxon Valdez oil spill

The Exxon Valdez tanker went aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska on March 24, 1989, releasing nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound. It absolutely was the worst oil spill in U.S. history before the 2011 Deepwater Horizon spill in the gulf.

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Navy Cleaning

Navy and civilian employees place hoses during oil cleaning attempts on Alaska's Smith Island on 11, 1989.

Prince William Sound

Credit: Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

Spill employees utilize a barge with liquid tanks to clean a beach along the Prince William Sound.

Spill Map

This picture from the 1993 State On-Scene Coordinator's Report reveals in which oil spread through the Exxon Valdez spill.

Exxon Valdez oil

Credit: Gail Irvine, USGS

Oil through the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill trapped between stones on a beach in the Gulf of Alaska, significantly more than 20 years after the spill.

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Oil Keeps

Credit: David Janka, R/V Auklet, NOAA

Heavy residual oiling ended up being found in sediments of Smith Island because recently as June 2011.

Oiled rock

Experts measure oil on little stones between boulders on shores within the Gulf of Alaska. The rocky, high-energy coastlines southwest of this 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill include tiny remnants for the spill which be seemingly protected by a well balanced boulder and cobble “armor”, relating to researchers.

Hot Water Hose

High-pressure, warm water washing is used cautiously because it can injure and destroy plants and animals inside managed location, as environmental officials confirmed after the Exxon Valdez spill, in accordance with NOAA. Cleaning workers often combine this system along with other methods like containing and gathering oil such that it doesn't disperse somewhere else.