Exxon Valdez: A Broken Radar, Corexit and a $507.5 Million Ruling

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On March 23, 1989, the Exxon Valdez left the Valdez Marine Terminal at 9:12 p.m. carrying 53.1 million gallons of Prudhoe Bay crude. Captain Joseph Hazelwood steered out of the outbound lane to avoid ice from the Columbia Glacier, set the autopilot and went to his cabin at about 11:47 p.m., leaving third mate Gregory Cousins, who had already worked six hours and chose not to wake the second mate, as the only officer on the bridge against company policy. At 12:04 a.m. the ship grounded on Bligh Reef, puncturing eight of 11 cargo tanks, and 10.8 million gallons eventually spilled into Prince William Sound. The NTSB found that failing to provide a rested and sufficient crew was a widespread practice.

Exxon blamed Hazelwood, but at his 1990 trial 21 witnesses said he did not appear intoxicated, and he was convicted only of a misdemeanor for negligent discharge of oil. The ship's Raytheon collision avoidance radar had been broken for over a year, and the Coast Guard had stopped tracking ships as far out as Bligh Reef. Cleanup recovered only about 10 percent of the oil; the dispersant Corexit, containing 2-butoxyethanol, was linked to illness among workers, and hot water blasting sterilized the shoreline. A $5 billion punitive award in Exxon v. Baker was cut through years of appeals until the Supreme Court set it at $507.5 million in 2008, relying on an 1818 maritime precedent. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 phased in double-hull tankers.

• Up to 250,000 seabirds, at least 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 247 bald eagles and 22 orcas died.
• In 2014 federal scientists estimated 16,000 to 21,000 gallons of oil remained under the beaches, with the consistency of mayonnaise.
• To back Exxon's $4.8 billion credit line, JPMorgan bought protection from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, an early credit default swap.
• The Chugach Alaska Corporation filed for Chapter 11 in 1991, and the village of Chenega tripled in population as a staging base.
• Renamed several times, including Sea River Mediterranean, the ship ended as an ore carrier and was dismantled in India in 2012.