No full recovery yet from oil spill 25

years ago
By McClatchy Washington Bureau, adapted by Newsela staff on 03.28.14
Word Count 662

Exxon Valdez oil spill workers recover and clean birds soiled by crude oil spilled when the tanker ran aground in Prince
William Sound, Alaska, on April 6, 1989. Bob Hallinen/Anchorage Daily News/MCT

WASHINGTON Monday marked the day when disaster struck 25 years ago. On that
day, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Prince William Sound, a body of water in
Alaska. The tanker was shipping oil for the company Exxon Mobil.

When it crashed, the tanker spilled at least 11 million gallons of oil into the waters of the
sound. At the time, it was the nations largest oil spill.

Andy Wills was laying on a friends couch in Cordova, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. He was
up early, ready to head out to work. He was a sherman in Prince William Sound.

My buddy had just handed me a cup of coffee in the morning, Wills said. And theres the
Exxon Valdez on TV, spilling oil.

He added, We were like, No! It was just the start of a nightmare.

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Some Oil Remains

Herring sh in Prince William Sound still have not recovered. Neither have killer whales.
Exxon Mobil and the government are still ghting in court over the spill.

Prince William Sound today looks breathtaking. It's a stunning setting of mountains, blue-
green waters and forested islands. But, pick up a stone on a rocky beach and dig a little.
Pockets of oil can still be found.

I think the big surprise for all of us who have worked on this thing for the last 25 years has
been the continued presence of relatively fresh oil, said Gary Shigenaka. He's an ocean
scientist for the government.

It's a big question as to how well Prince William Sound has recovered. Oil company Exxon
Mobil Corp. says studies show the area is bouncing back.

The sound has "had a very solid, complete recovery, said Richard Keil, a spokesman for
Exxon Mobil.

Government scientists have a different view.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council is in charge of the revival of Prince William
Sound. It considers salmon to be recovered. Bald eagles and harbor seals have also
bounced back.

Herring Haven't Recovered

However, sea otters have had a rough time. Thousands died in the months following the
spill. Since then, they have struggled. The U.S. government reported earlier this month that
the sea otters had nally returned to the same numbers as before the spill.

The council says herring have not recovered. Neither have a group of killer whales and a
type of seabird.

Wills shed salmon as well as herring. He said the spill left a huge mark on those who
made a living from Prince William Sound.

Exxon sent money to pay people for their losses. But, it was too late and too little, he said.

A lot of people got real hurt. I got divorced. It was rough, said Wills. He now runs a
bookshop and cafe in Alaska.

There are puzzles left by the spill. Among them is the herring mystery. Herring are very
important to other animals in the area. Whales, salmon and birds all feed on it.

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Still Studying Spill's Effects

Scientists found physical changes in herring that swam through the oil. Then, four years
after the spill, the herring population crashed. No one knows exactly why. The spill might
have made the herring weak. Now herring suffer from diseases.

The herring never recovered. The current population is low.

The killer whales of the sound also have suffered. A newspaper photo showed a group of
whales swimming near the tanker as it gushed oil. Populations dropped in the year after
the spill.

One group of whales is slowly recovering. But, another group numbered 22 killer whales at
the time of the spill. Now it is down to just seven. Scientists expect it to go extinct. If so, it
would be the end of a whale line forever. The whale group has hunted in the area for
thousands of years.

The government is still weighing the science of the spills effects. Court cases will decide
whether to seek more money from Exxon Mobil for cleaning up remaining oil.

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