It was the worst oil spill in US history until 2010 when the Deepwater Horizon disaster pumped nearly 20 times that into the Gulf of Mexico.
Thirty years ago today while Captain Joseph Hazelwood slept one off in his bunk his third mate ran the Exxon Valdez onto Bligh Reef in Prince Wiliam Sound. The world watched the aftermath unfold: scores of herring, sea otters and birds soaked in oil and hundreds of miles of shoreline polluted. Thirty years later you can still find the spill’s lingering effects.
On the surface, Prince William Sound appears to have recovered. But you don’t have to dig too deep—into the soil or into memories—to find the spill’s lingering effects.
LINK (via: Hakai Magazine)
Thirty years later, the pictures of the aftermath and cleanup efforts in Alaska remain iconic images for environmental activists, starkly depicting the blunt force of industry running headfirst into a delicately balanced natural setting.
LINK (via: Quartz)
Thanks for posting this. Some good links within the links too including Haikai Magazine’s “The Oil Cleanup Illusion”