Exxon Valdez oil spill

The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled 260,000 to 750,000 barrels (41,000 to 119,000 m) of crude oil.^[1][2] It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters.^[3] The Valdez spill was the largest ever in US waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, in terms of volume released.^[4] However, Prince William Sound's remote location, accessible only by helicopter, plane, and boat, made government and industry response efforts difficult and severely taxed existing plans for response. The region is a habitat for salmon, sea otters, seals and seabirds. The oil, originally extracted at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, eventually covered 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of coastline,^[5] and 11,000 square miles (28,000 km²) of ocean.^[6] Then Exxon CEO, Mills Dillard, shaped the company's response.^[7]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon Valdez oil spill