National Park Service Kenai Fjords National Park U.S. Department of the Interior

20 YEARS LATER... 

EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

Spring bird surveys along the shores of Kenai Fjords National Park are one of the legacies from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers March 1, 2009 

The day dawned like any other, barely. 

Within minutes (at 12:04 a.m. on March 24,

1989 to be precise), the way we think of oil, 

how we manage commercial shipping, and 

how the National Park Service manages 

resources changed forever.

The Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh 

Reef in Prince William Sound. Carrying 

1,264,155 barrels of oil bound for 

Washington, the ship had maneuvered out 

of the shipping lane to avoid icebergs. The 

timing of the spill, remote and spectacular 

location, thousands of miles of rugged and 

wild shoreline, and the abundance of 

wildlife combined to make it an 

environmental and societal disaster well 

beyond the scope of other spills.

This flyer provides answers to some 

common questions concerning the Exxon 

Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) and its impacts 

upon Kenai Fjords National Park. The 

spill represents a watershed event in park 

management—what we learned from the 

experience 20 years ago has a profound 

impact on how we operate today.

Some of the lessons learned include: 

 Response to a major event or incident is 

complex, requires careful yet clearly 

identified management, exemplary 

leadership, and specialized skills.

 The lingering effects of such an event 

can be difficult to identify but are vitally 

important to understand.

 Prevention is inordinately cheaper than 

cleanup. 

 Distance doesn't necessarily mean 

you're safe (after nearly 2 months, 

Katmai National Park was struggling 

with fresh oil).

 We didn’t know much about our 

resources and still today have a lot to 

learn—a realization which helped 

initiate natural resource Inventory 

&Monitoring, coastal mapping, and 

archeological survey efforts.

 We can and must work well with 

others—local communities, business, 

and state & federal government 

agencies. 

Oil Spill Facts & Figures

 257,000 barrels......of oil were spilled 

(equivalent to 11 million gallons or 

125 olympic-sized swimming pools).

 17,000 barrels......of oil were 

recovered (750,000 gallons).

 1,300 miles......of shoreline were 

impacted. 

 460 miles......the distance the spill 

stretched from Bligh Reef to the 

village of Chignik on the Alaskan 

Peninsula. 

 512,000 feet (almost 100 miles)...of 

containment boom used for cleanup.

 11,000 people...employed by Exxon 

to assist with cleanup efforts. 

 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 

300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, 22 

killer whales, and billions of salmon 

and herring eggs......the ‘best’ 

estimate of how many animals died 

outright from the spill.

Resources

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council 

 http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/
WHAT HAPPENED

HOW MUCH OF THE PARK WAS OILED? 

HOW MANY ANIMALS DIED

FROM THE OIL SPILL?

Unlike coastlines in Prince William Sound 

that were hit by oil within hours or days of 

the grounding of the Exxon Valdez, the 

coastline of Kenai Fjords National Park was 

spared from oiling for nearly two weeks 

after the onset of the disaster. This gave 

park managers a brief window to prepare 

for the arrival of the oil. Initially, response 

efforts were aimed at keeping the oil out of 

critical salmon spawning areas by deploying 

protective boom at the mouths of several 

rivers and lagoons. There was also hope 

that the oil might be kept off of the beaches 

altogether by skimming it from the water 

before it came ashore. For several days the 

oil held offshore in a 20 to 30 mile wide 

sheen and many separate patches of 

mousse, or weathered and thickened oil. 

Unfortunately, the oil skimmers were 

unable to keep the oil from the beaches. A 

storm that blew in on the night of April 10 

sent the first oil ashore in Kenai Fjords 

National Park.

In the end, approximately 20 miles of the 

Kenai Fjords coast received oil. This is

about five percent of the total coastline in 

the park and just a fraction of the total 

coastline oiled during the disaster. 

Fortunately, the most sensitive salmon 

spawning areas in the park did not receive 

oil. Areas classified as moderately or 

heavily oiled include Pony Cove, Verdant 

Cove, Taroka Arm, Black Bay, Beauty Bay, 

Yalik Bay, and McArthur Pass. 

The Exxon Valdez oil spill stretched from Bligh Reef 460 miles to the village of 

Chignik on the Alaska Peninsula. Map courtesy Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustees 

Council.

Booms were used to contain oil that might run off the shore during cleanup (Pony 

Cove on September 2, 1989, is shown below); as well as to corral and collect oil in 

open waters and protect unimpacted shoreline.

No one knows for certain how many 

animals died. Across Alaska, the carcasses 

of more than 35,000 birds and 1,000 sea 

otters were found after the spill; but since 

most carcasses sink, this is considered to be 

a small fraction of the actual death toll. The 

best estimates are: 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 

sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, 

up to 22 killer whales, and billions of salmon 

and herring eggs.

The majority of dead birds identified (74%) 

were murres. Most (88%) were killed 

outside of Prince William Sound. Due to 

the timing of the spill, murres were gathered 

in large pre-breeding aggregations around 

the Chiswell, Pye and Barren Islands. Few 

puffins and kittiwakes had yet to return 

from offshore wintering areas and were 

therefore spared the direct effects of the oil.

2 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers
RESOURCES IMPACTED

WHAT RESOURCES IN KENAI 

FJORDS NATIONAL PARK WERE 

AFFECTED? 

Within Kenai Fjords National Park, booms were placed in 3 locations to protect salmon 

streams. The park coastline which received oil and where response activities were directed 

was limited compared to other areas in the Gulf of Alaska.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers 3

Kenai Fjords Facts & Figures

 10 April 1989......the first day that oil 

reached shores of Kenai Fjords National 

Park (oil reached Seward several days 

prior). 

 $7.3 million......minimum estimate of 

direct NPS costs attributed to the spill.

 Mosquito fleet......the small skiffs and 

vessels that went to the innumerable 

small bays and beaches to clean oil, 

where the larger barges were unable to 

reach.

 Pavement......a commonly-used term to 

describe the surface of beaches 

impacted by the thick oil mousse.

 2 pounds / 100 square feet......the rate 

at which Customblen fertilizer was 

applied on selected beaches to promote 

bioremediation.

 2 bobcats......used on Yalik beach to 

remove oil.

Since the park boundary ends at high-tide, 

most of the oil remained in adjacent stateowned submerged lands. Wildlife 

however, is not aware of this change in 

jurisdiction.

The well-known resources affected—

shoreline, sea otters, birds, fish—tell a 

heartbreaking story. The spill also 

highlighted the importance of less 

charismatic resources such as clean water, 

beach sediment, phytoplankton, and 

bivalves. The loss of these resources has a 

cascade effect on the animals that live in or 

feed upon them.

Seward became a hub of wildlife treatment 

shortly after the spill occurred. Facilities 

were set up for cleaning and caring for sea 

otters, seabirds, and bald eagles; and 

volunteers from the local community 

contributed many hours to this effort. 

Success rates varied, and many animals 

could not be saved. One hundred eightyfour sea otters were brought to Seward, 

and eventually only 19 of these were 

released back into the wild. Success rates 

were a bit better with birds. Of 1,088 

seabirds brought to Seward, 627 were 

released. Twenty-two bald eagles arrived 

alive in Seward, and 13 of these were

released. 

About 6,200 birds were collected along the 

Kenai Peninsula coast, with many of these 

undoubtedly coming from the beaches of 

Kenai Fjords National Park. This 

comprises about 20% of all birds collected 

during the spill response. The number of 

birds found within park boundaries as 

opposed to those found elsewhere along 

the Kenai Peninsula has never been tallied.

The massive effort to document damage 

and cleanup oil led to people surveying and 

walking on beaches that are rarely visited. 

As a result, many new archeological sites 

were discovered that were previously 

unknown to scientists. The 

documentation of these sites increased our 

understanding of former human habitation 

of what is now Kenai Fjords National Park, 

but also exposed these resources to the 

potential threat of human disturbance. 

Additional Oil Spill Information

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council

For Oil Spill facts, restoration projects, and 

recovery status of the Exxon Valdez Oil 

Spill http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/. 

Office of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) 

Damage Assessment and Restoration

The National Marine Fisheries Service 

administers and coordinates federally 

funded research 

http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/oil/. 

Hard Aground Disaster in Prince 

William Sound

Ten years of stories, photos and reference 

material from the Anchorage Daily News 

http://www.adn.com/evos/. 
R E SOURCES IMPACTED

Oil mousse on blue mussel (Mytilus) bed, 

Morning Cove; August 1989.

CAN YOU STILL FIND OIL ON 

BEACHES? 

Yes. Despite the tremendous cleanup

efforts, not all beaches were cleaned and 

some beaches remain oiled today. The 

National Park Service has determined 

that it is too disruptive to the marine 

nearshore environment to attempt to 

remove the oil that remains. There is 

not much visible oil on the beaches 

however, and you have to look to find it.

If you look in the right locations, oil from 

the Exxon Valdez spill can still be found 

on selected beaches in Kenai Fjords 

National Park; as seen here in 2003.

4 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers

..........................Organizations 

U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Science 

Center

Provides long-term data collection and 

monitoring, research and development, and 

assessments and applications for the U.S. 

Department of the Interior. 

http://www.absc.usgs.gov/research/program

s/ecosystems_habitats.htm#EVOS

Ocean Alaska Science & Learning Center

Dedicated to understanding and preserving 

the marine ecosystem connecting Alaska's 

National Parks through research and 

education. 

http://www.oceanalaska.org/education/multi

media-podcast.htm

Southwest Alaska Network, Inventory & 

Monitoring Program

Provides a scientific foundation for effective, 

long-term protection and management of 

natural resources 

http://science.nature.nps.gov/im/units/swan/

Supporting.............................. 

Alaska Fisheries Science Center

The Habitat Assessment and Marine 

Chemistry Program assesses the impact of 

development and contaminants on marine 

and tidal species and their habitats, and 

maps and evaluates habitat quality. 

http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/ABL/Habitat/ablha

b_default.php

NOAA Office of Response and 

Restoration

Emergency national response strategies, 

pollutants in the environment, restoration 

and planning, section for students and 

teachers studying spills. 

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA is the lead federal response agency for 

oil spills occurring in inland waters, and the 

U.S. Coast Guard is the lead response 

agency for spills in coastal waters and 

deepwater ports. 

http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/

A bald eagle is cleaned to remove oil contaminants from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. 

Although hastily assembled, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service bird cleaning station in Seward 

processed thousands of birds. Photo courtesy International Bird Rescue Research Center.
RECOVERY

WHAT KIND OF RECOVERY ACTIVITIES WERE UNDERTAKEN AT THE PARK? 

HAS THE PARK RECOVERED FROM THE OIL SPILL? 

Hot water treatment was popular 

until it was determined that the 

treatment could be causing more 

damage than the oil. Small organisms 

were being cooked by the hot water. 

High pressure cold water treatment 

and hot water treatment involved 

dozens of people holding fire hoses 

and spraying the beaches. The water, 

with floating oil, would trickle down 

to the shore. The oil would be 

trapped within several layers of 

boom and either be scooped up, 

sucked up or absorbed using special 

oil-absorbent materials. 

Mechanical cleanup was done by 

removing oiled debris by hand and

with the use of shovels.

Bioremediation, or the application 

of fertilizer to stimulate microbes 

which eat oil, was used in cleanup 

efforts in Kenai Fjords. The

National Park Service banned 

selected forms of bioremediation 

(fertilizer) that were known to be 

toxic to marine life.

The topic of recovery is contentious, as it 

depends on your definition. Ecosystems 

are dynamic, ever-changing, with natural 

cycles and variability. As time passes, 

distinguishing cause and effect from the Oil 

Spill becomes increasingly difficult.

One result of the oil spill settlement is 

habitat protection through land purchases. 

It was determined that purchasing land was 

a more effective way to help recovery than 

the millions of dollars that were dedicated 

to attempting to clean oiled animals. In 

May 1997, Secretary Bruce Babbit signed 

the agreement to purchase 31,190 acres of 

privately held land within the boundaries 

of Kenai Fjords National Park. The Exxon 

Valdez Oil Spill Trust and the criminal 

restitution fund paid just over 15 million 

dollars for the acreage within the park and 

2,280 acres within Alaska Maritime 

Wildlife Refuge. The park continues to 

acquire limited rights to Nanwalek 

(English Bay) Corporation lands to protect 

valuable coastal habitat.

"There are still effects up there from the 

spill," Babbitt said in an interview. "But I'll 

tell you, getting some of these critical lands 

into public ownership has really been 

helpful with the eye toward the long range. 

It's enormously satisfying. Just 

remarkable." The idea behind the 

purchases is basic: speed wildlife recovery 

by ensuring that wild places stay wild.

The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Restoration 

Plan provides periodic updates on the 

recovery of injured species. The most 

recent of these identify that the following 

species have yet to fully recover: herring, 

clams, mussels, pigeon guillemot, black 

oystercatchers, and sea otters 

http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/recovery/sta

tus.cfm. Kenai Fjords National Park shown in green, 

with lands jointly protected by the NPS and 

Nanwalek Corporation in brown.

Hot water wash in 

Pony Cove; August 30, 

1989. 

Workers cleaning an 

oiled beach, in Paguna

Arm; June 13, 1989. 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers 5 
KNOWLEDGE

ARE THERE ANY UNANTICIPATED IMPACTS FROM THE SPILL? 

IS THERE ONGOING MONITORING? 

From oiled beaches to species decline, the 

lingering effects of oil within the marine 

and intertidal environment are with us 

today, twenty years after the spill. Beneath 

the appearance of recovery, subtle 

processes of the spill are affecting the 

landscape and the species that live there. 

Much of the information comes from 

research within Prince William Sound. 

Some examples:

 Oil is still present on many beaches and

in the substrate after 20 years. 

 Deeply penetrated oil still leaches from 

some beaches into the ocean. 

 Intertidal animals, such as mussels, are 

still contaminated by oil that remains in 

the sediments and water, affecting not 

only the mussels but any animals 

(including people) that eat them. 

 Toxic subsurface oil and chronic 

exposures persist and continue to affect 

fish and wildlife at sublethal levels. 

 Rocky beaches, stripped of plant cover 

by high-pressure hot-water washing,

have not fully recovered and the 

process of plant succession is slow. 

 Cleanup can be more damaging than 

the impacts of the oil itself. What has 

failed to recover are the invertebrate 

communities living in the substrate. 

This is the most noticeable difference 

between beaches that received high 

pressure hot water washing than those 

that did not. 

Another impact from the spill was how the 

National Park Service and other 

government agencies plan for, coordinate, 

and respond to emergencies. Through a 

series of critiques and reviews, the 

‘Incident Command System’ and 

coordination of emergency response 

systems has greatly improved.

The 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill highlighted 

the need for baseline data on the ecosystem 

in order to accurately assess injury to the 

resource. The response of management 

within the park was to institute a variety of 

projects, programs and collaborative efforts 

to collect that data. Some of the resulting 

National Park Service collaborative efforts 

and partnerships are the Ocean Alaska 

Science and Learning Center, the Southwest 

Alaska Network (part of the National 

Inventory and Monitoring Program). 

Kenai Fjords National Park and the adjacent 

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

have ongoing monitoring projects of many 

marine animal species as well as projects 

that monitor their environments. These 

projects are both in-house and via 

partnerships with many state, federal and 

non-profit organizations. Some examples:

 Marine nearshore vital sign monitoring, 

including:

 ◦ water chemistry,

 ◦ kelp & eelgrass habitats,

 ◦ intertidal invertebrates,

 ◦ seabird surveys,

 ◦ black oystercatcher nesting surveys,

 ◦ sea otter populations;

 Periodic beach surveys of oiled sites; 

 Bald eagle monitoring; and

 Pigeon guillemot, common murre, & 

kittiwake monitoring. 

Jellyfish soaked in oil; April 19, 1989. 

Tom Dean and Heather Colletti monitoring rocky intertidal habitat in Nuka Bay as 

part of nearshore vital sign monitoring; June 13, 2007.

6 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers

Scientific Studies

Long-Term Ecosystem Response to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Peterson, C.H., et al. 2003. Science. Vol. 302, pp 2082-2086. 

http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/Publications/misc_pdf/peterson.pdf

Lessons to be Learned: The NPS Administrative History & Assessment of the 

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

Kurtz, R.S. 1995. An historic account and policy assessment of the NPS response; 

http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/akro/exxon_valdez.pdf
RESPONSES

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers 7 

WHAT SHOULD I DO IN CASE OF AN 

OIL SPILL? 

The National Response Center (NRC) is the sole 

federal point of contact for reporting oil, 

chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological 

spills. If you have a spill to report, contact them at 

800.424.8802 (or 202.267.2675). You can also 

check their website for additional information 

and procedures. The NRC operates 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year 

http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/nrchp.html. 

Alaska state law also requires all oil and 

hazardous substance releases to be reported to 

the Department of Environmental Conservation. 

During normal business hours call the nearest 

DEC Area Response Team. 

 Central (Anchorage): 907.269.3063

 Northern (Fairbanks): 907.451.2121

 Southeast (Juneau): 907.465.5340

Outside normal business hours call 800.478.9300.

State of Alaska notification requirements include: 

 Any release of a hazardous substance must be 

reported as soon as the person has knowledge 

of the discharge.

 Any release of oil into water must be reported 

as soon as the person has knowledge of the 

discharge.

http://www.dec.state.ak.us/SPAR/spillreport.htm

Additional information is available from the 

National Response Team. They provide technical 

assistance, resources and coordination on 

preparedness, planning, response and recovery 

activities for emergencies involving hazardous 

substances, pollutants and contaminants, hazmat, 

oil, and weapons of mass destruction 

http://www.nrt.org/. 

Bags of oily debris near Berger Bay, Nuka Island; July 25, 1989.

Detailed maps 

and narrative 

descriptions of 

beach surveys 

were prepared 

by hand. 

Paguna and 

Taroka Arms are 

shown here 

from surveys 

conducted in 

May and June 

of 1989, and 

drawn by Jerry 

Lunsford.

Placing boom to 

protect salmon 

streams in 

McCarty Lagoon; 

April 4, 1989.
RESPONSE S 

ARE WE BETTER PREPARED IF ANOTHER SUCH SPILL OCCURS? 

HOW HAS OUR ABILITY TO RESPOND 

TO AN OIL SPILL IMPROVED?

8 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers

At the time of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, the 

park was reviewing a draft of its first spill 

response plan. In response to the Exxon 

Valdez Oil Spill, the “Oil Pollution Act of 

1990” was unanimously passed by Congress. 

This legislation specified that planning and 

response occur at 4 levels: 1) unified plan, 2) 

subarea plan, 3) local emergency plan, 4) 

vessel or facility plan. Today, spill response 

is a coordinated, combined effort by a host 

of local, state, and federal government 

agencies and individuals. Each year 

classroom and field exercises engage local 

communities and ensure we are better 

prepared. 

The US Coast Guard is the lead agency 

coordinating spill response in US coastal 

waters and deepwater ports. With offices in 

Seward and a continuous presence on 

marine radios (Channel 16), they are a 

critical resource in our community

http://www.uscg.mil/top/missions/Protect_

NR.asp. 

With input from a host of partners, we now have 

a number of tools at our disposal when the next 

spill occurs. Geographic Response Strategies for 

Alaska divide the state into 10 sub-areas. Each 

area has a suite of detailed maps labeled with 

sensitive sites, response equipment available, as 

well as locally applicable suggested techniques for 

oil removal 

http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/grs/home.h

tm. 

In addition to response strategies, there is a list of 

‘potential places of refuge’, or pre-identified sites 

that may aid decision-makers in responding to 

vessels in distress. These plans are tailored to 

protect sensitive areas from impacts from 

possible spills and are map-based to save time 

during the critical first few hours of a vessel 

response 

http://www.dec.state.ak.us/SPAR/PERP/ppor/ho

me.htm. 

Unfortunately, several spills since 1989 have 

tested our ability to respond. The 2004 

Selendang Ayu spill in Unalaska is one case in

point. To be clear, resource damage occurred 

and there is room for improved response abilities 

to limit preventable damages. There was 

however; a rapid coordinate response, a clearly 

defined damage assessment and recovery effort, 

and a critical evaluation to ensure we continue to 

learn from and improve our response to oil spills.

Investigators near Soviet oil skimmer M/V Vaydaghubsky in Seward; April 20, 1989. 

Community Information

Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council

Citizen’s site committed to being a voice for communities affected by oil industry 

decisions in Prince William Sound. http://www.pwsrcac.org/

Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council

Fosters long-term partnerships between industry, government, & coastal 

communities. http://www.circac.org/

Collecting oil 

mousse at 

Pony Cove; 

April 14, 

1989. 
PERSPECTIVES

 SUPERINTENDENT’S THOUGHTS A Day in the Life of a Park Ranger

In 1989, park rangers Joe Meehan and Laura 

Greffenius were stationed in Nuka Bay from 

May 30th to September 16th. The following 

excerpts from their June log entries offer 

insight into their experiences, just two 

months after the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.

June 1: Motored over to Yalik Bay to check 

on oil cleanup crew. ...A gooey brown oil film 

has been deposited on the rocky shoreline at 

the mouth of the creek. The crew can only 

work at low tide and are picking up the oiled 

gravel and rocks with shovels and hauling it 

to the boats in plastic garbage bags. JM

June 5: Motored to Beauty Bay to inspect the 

beach that had been cleaned up by type “A” 

cleanup [oil cleaned up by hand]. A little over 

6,000 bags of oiled gravel & debris were 

taken off the beach. The only sign of oil was 

one oil soaked log. Hard to believe this was a 

heavily impacted beach. JM

June 11: Rain on our roof this morning, 

seems like a tradition. But, after a rainy A.M., 

our skies gradually became bluer. Our world 

in Nuka Bay opened up for us today!! This 

was the first time since we arrived May 30th 

that we have been in base camp and have 

been able to see this fabulous scene before us 

in its entirety. LG

June 14: Today 13 persons working on 

beach [Yalik Bay]...they were not digging but 

using absorbent pads to clean up stream bed 

as salmon run begins later this [sic]. Seemed 

like a slow tedious process. Still lots of oil 

spots permeated into the gravelly, sandy 

substrate. LG

June 15: Very busy day-3 helicopters, 2 fixed 

wings and seven boats in the bay. Seems the 

Yalik operation has become a politically 

sensitive item. Exxon doesn’t have a plan of 

operation submitted for the cleanup

operation. Alaska DEC was concerned that 

too much of the streambed and tidal zone 

was being dug up and hauled away, so they 

prohibited them from hauling away any more 

oiled gravel. They have resorted to rubbing 

the rocks and sediments with oil absorbent 

pads. This seems futile and has caused bad 

feeling with most parties. This stream has 

been given high priority for cleanup as pink 

salmon will spawn in it starting around July 1. 

JM 

June 18: The “Mosquito Fleet” has 

concentrated its efforts in Morning Cove 

(faces northeast) and Wildcat Cove (faces 

southeast). Because of the direction these 

coves are facing, these locations have been 

hard hit by the oil coming in from the open 

ocean...The workers will cleanup the cove of 

oiled debris, floating oil, and scoop up oil off 

the rocks one day, then when they return the 

next morning, the accumulation of oil will be 

just as bad or worse...LG

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers 9

Anne Castellina

Superintendent from 1988-2004

The first task I was assigned as the new 

Superintendent of Kenai Fjords National 

Park in 1988 was to rewrite the Land 

Protection Plan. The grounding of the 

Exxon Valdez ironically provided the 

opportunity to make some of it happen. 

It came at a tremendous cost though.

The environmental and human toll of the 

Oil Spill was widespread and longlasting. It is difficult for those who were 

not involved to understand the emotions 

and the sheer exhaustion that affected 

every member of the park staff. Spill 

response went on, it seemed forever. 

This wasn’t a fire where a good rainstorm 

allowed everyone to pack up and go 

home. It was a war – a daily battle with 

Exxon, the Coast Guard, and the 

Department of the Interior, with 

suppliers who had no more supplies, 

with the weather that allowed the oil to 

come back again and again.

Following the initial response came 

cleanup. With summer coming we 

divided the park staff into those who 

worked on the spill and those who ran 

the park. Everyone rose to the challenge 

– it was inspiring and humbling and a 

tremendous privilege to work alongside 

the small park staff and with all those 

who came to help us. Summer came and 

left and we were still engaged in spill 

activities on a daily basis. 

For the next two summers there was 

cleanup and surveys. Surveys charting 

the fate and persistence of the oil that hit 

the shores of the park continue to this 

day, 20 years later. And 20 years later, on 

a hot day, you can still see the rainbow 

sheen in the water and smell the oil as it 

seeps from park beaches. I suspect some 

of it will always be there.

When the dust settled and the spill 

became a long-term job for the lawyers, 

the park land protection plan came out 

once again. Land purchases were made 

with oil spill settlement money, allowing 

some closure. We paid a much bigger 

price for that land than the dollars that 

were spent. We should never forget that.

Jeff Mow

Superintendent from 2004-present

For the average visitor coming to Kenai 

Fjords in 2009, the impacts of the Exxon 

Valdez Oil Spill are not readily evident. 

As a matter of fact, one has to look pretty 

hard to find a patch of oil hidden 

amongst the boulders on a wellprotected beach. 

The majority of visitors today are more 

focused on the impacts of climate change 

than the past event known as the Exxon 

Valdez Oil Spill. In the past twenty years 

there have been declines of over 80% of 

at least three key species in the park: 

Steller sea lions, harbor seals, and 

Kittlitz’s murrelets. We feel that while 

the impacts of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill 

are not directly responsible for these 

declines, the event exacerbated changes 

that were already underway, changes 

largely attributable to climate change. 

We also see lingering impacts of the spill 

in the ways we manage the park. The 

spill and the ensuing cleanup activities 

exposed many previously unknown 

archeological sites. These sites required 

protection then and they require 

protection now. Habitat restoration 

activities that were begun in the 

aftermath of the spill continue. We 

remain vigilant about being prepared for 

a similar event in the future.

Community Input

"We're saddened to see it come this far 

up the bay. We were hoping it 

wouldn't."

Seward Deputy City Manager Darryl 

Schaefermeyer.

Reflecting on what the spill wrought, the 

late Chief of the Native Village of Port 

Graham, Walter Meganack Sr., spoke of 

the time “when the water died.” He said 

“the land and the water are our sources 

of life. The water is sacred. On the 

beaches . . . [we] [s]pend all day cleaning 

one huge rock, and the tide comes in 

and covers it with oil again. Spend a 

week wiping and spraying the surface, 

but pick up a rock and there’s four 

inches of oil underneath.”
National Park Service

US Department of the Interior

This is a special fact sheet to answer common 

questions associated with the Exxon Valdez Oil 

Spill and commemoration of the 20th anniversary. 

Editors

Fritz Klasner, Kristy Sholly, Jim Pfeiffenberger

Contributors

Anne Castellina, Jeff Mow

Lynn Aderholt, CJ Rea

Shelley Hall, Peter Armato

All photos courtesy National Park Service unless 

otherwise noted.

Comments? Write to:

Jeff Mow, Superintendent

Kenai Fjords National Park

PO Box 1727

Seward, AK 99664

KEFJ_information@nps.gov

Phone: 907-224-7500

The National Park Service cares for the special

places saved by the American people so that all 

may experience our heritage.

EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA TM

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Kenai Fjords National Park

PO Box 1727

Seward, AK 99664

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park was established 

on December 2, 1980, by the Alaska National 

Interst Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). 

The park comprises approximately 670,000 

acres within its legislative boundary. The 

National Park Service manages 

approximately 607,000 acres, with the 

remaining acreage owned and managed by 

the State of Alaska, Port Graham Native 

Corporation, and private inholders.

The park is located on the east coast of 

Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, thrust into the 

Gulf of Alaska, windward of the Kenai 

Mountains. Large fjords and bays cleave the 

coastal mountains and create a rugged 

coastline. A narrow slice of temperate rain 

forest fringes the coastline and provides a 

brief respite from the stark seas and 

expansive Harding Icefield. The icefield 

stretches from tidewater glaciers at sea level 

to broad expanses of ice and snow, 

interrupted only by the nunataks of the 

Kenai Mountains.

The park enabling legislation identifies the 

following purposes: “to maintain unimpaired 

the scenic and environmental integrity of the 

Harding Icefield, its outflowing glaciers, and 

coastal fjords and islands in their natural 

state; and to protect seals, sea lions, other 

marine mammals, and marine and other 

birds and to maintain their hauling and 

breeding areas in their natural state, free of 

human activity which is disruptive to their 

natural processes” (ANILCA sec.201(5)). 

Unlike most other park units added to or 

created in 1980, ANILCA did not allow for 

sport hunting or federal susbsistence in 

Kenai Fjords National Park.

10 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill & Kenai Fjords National Park – 20th Anniversary Questions & Answers March 1, 2009