Nothing Lasts Forever...Except for Oil, But Not How You Want it to Last

Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of the largest offshore oil spill in US history. It is only second to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP oil explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. The second largest occurred in Prince William Sound in Alaska when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez crashed into a reef.

The tanker had just filled up with unrefined oil at the Alyeska pipeline terminus in Valdez, Alaska. As the tanker was heading South to California, it ran aground on Bligh Reef. 10+ million gallons of unrefined oil leaked out of the single-hull tanker. Eventually, the oil covered over 1,000 miles of coastline. The major difficulty with the Exxon Valdez oil spill was its remoteness. The ship crashed at 12am on March 24th and spill was only accessible by helicopter and boat in the distant waters of the Gulf of Alaska

The oil spill devastated the habitat for numerous animals including fish, mammals, birds and shellfish. Sea otters have only just been declared as having been recovered,a pod of orcas has never recovered, and the findings of the investigation are still awaiting peer review prior to publication. However, the oil spill was also devastating to people as well.

The oil spill devastated the herring fishing industry as well as salmon fishing. This caused people in commercial fishing to lose their jobs. After the oil spill, there were a reports of an increase in suicides, divorces, and health complications.

25 years later, Exxon has declared the spill cleaned up and over with but the government and the natural world say differently. Along the affected coastline, oil can still be found in the sand, where brown bears dig to find food. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has faded from memory for now, but what will be said about it 15 or 20 years down the line?