The EXXON Valdez Oil Spill a Report to the President

Shortly after midnight on March 24, 1989, the
987-foot tank vessel Exxon Valdez struck Bligh
Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska. What
followed was the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
The oil slick has spread over 3,000 square miles and
onto over 350 miles of beaches in Prince William
Sound, one of the most pristine and magnificent
natural areas in the country. Experts still are
assessing the environmental and economic
implications of the incident. The job of cleaning
up the spill is under way, and although the initial
response proceeded slowly, major steps have been
taken.

The very large spill size, the remote location,
and the character of the oil all tested spill
preparedness and response capabilities. Government
and industry plans, individually and collectively,
proved to be wholly insufficient to control an oil
spill of the magnitude of the Exxon Valdez
incident. Initial industry efforts to get equipment
on scene were unreasonably slow, and once
deployed the equipment could not cope with the
spill. Moreover, the various contingency plans did
not refer to each other or establish a workable
response command hierarchy. This resulted in
confusion and delayed the cleanup.

Prepared by the National Response Team, this
report was requested by the President and
undertaken by Secretary of Transportation Samuel
K. Skinner and Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator William K. Reilly. The report
addresses the preparedness for, the response to, and
early lessons learned from the Exxon Valdez
incident. The President has also asked Secretary
Skinner to coordinate the efforts of all federal
agencies involved in the cleanup and Administrator
Reilly to coordinate the long-term recovery of the
affected areas of the Alaskan environment. These
efforts are ongoing.

The report
addresses a number of important environmental,
energy, economic, and health implications of the
incident.