Exxon Valdez oil spill

The Exxon Valdez, three days after it hit the reef

People trying to clean up some rocks after the spill

The Exxon Valez oil spill was one of the worst man-made environmental disasters in United States history. It happened when an oil tanker, the Exxon Valez, hit a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 24, 1989. At the time of the disaster, the ship had about 160,000 tons of oil on board; it could take a maximum of 210,000 tons. Later, people looked at the causes, and found that the people on board were badly trained and overworked. What made things worse was the fact that the government was not prepared to handle a disaster with such large consequences for the environment; 11,000,000 tons of crude oil were released into the environment.