Twenty six years ago on March 24, 1989, one of the nations worse environmental disasters hit the U.S. It started with the 987 foot long oil tanker named Exxon Valdez that departed from Valdez Marine Terminal and made its way towards Prince William Sound in Alaska.
Just a few minutes after midnight, the ship hit some reef and tore open the hull of the ship releasing an estimated 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska's waters. The initial responses from Exxon and the Alyeska Pipeline Company were not sufficient enough to contain the the spill. The approaching storm then spread the oil even more up and down the coast line covering more than a 1,000 miles.
The spill caused hundreds of thousands of animals to lose their life and many people suffered from the spill as well. Many of the villages, similar to the one I am living in now, depended on the ocean to provide their food for the year and it was now tarnished. Many companies that depend on the ocean for revenue were not able to work. It became an all-hands-on-deck to try and contain the oil and clean up the waters and beaches.
A few of the people that I have talked to here in the village still are very touched and emotional when it comes to this topic. It changed everyones life. The people here in the village went from being able to provide for their families to now having their way of life taken away from them due to the contamination. Many agencies had to step in and help provide food and money to those affected by the spill.
Billions of dollars were spent on the cleanup costs and fines that Exxon was responsible for. There still remains many cases waiting trial in court.
There has been evidence and confirmation of suspicions that the captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was intoxicated while navigating the ship. He was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of negligent discharge of oil, he only was fined $50,000, and also sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service.
The oil, for the most part, has disappeared and is no longer visible to the eye. There are still many Alaskan beaches that still have pollution. On those beaches,if you were to dig a few inches below the surface, you will be able to find oil remnants. The impact on the communities that depend on the ocean to provide are still recovering from the spill.
Many kids in the schools here will never know the impact and this spill had on the community. It will soon be forgotten as many National disasters are. There is something, though, when you sit with an elder and you hear their story and how it impacted them. Adults and children taking long shifts to work on cleaning their beaches along with others. To see the emotion as they recount their stories is something I will never be able to forget.
Pictures were taken from Google. Information was taken from different online sources and personal stories from individuals in the village.
