Native America Calling: The Exxon Valdez oil spill

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Friday, March 22, 2024

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Exxon Valdez 35 years later: progress and caution

When the Exxon Valdez supertanker broke open on March 24, 1989, the resulting oil spill coated 1,300 miles of shoreline in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and killed thousands of fish, birds, and wildlife.

The environmental disaster is associated with the distressing images of water birds, otters, and other animals fighting for their lives through a thick coat of crude oil. The spill destroyed subsistence and commercial fishing for Alaska Native fishers, and created ecological contamination that is still recovering.

Native America Calling loks at the lasting harm from the spill 35 years later, and what’s changed to prevent future disasters.

The Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound in Alaska on March 24, 1989, spilling about 10.9 million gallons of oil on the Alaska coastline. Photo: NOAA National Ocean Service

Guests on Native America Calling

Dune Lankard (Eyak Athabascan), founder and president of the Native Conservancy

Sheri Buretta (Alutiiq from the Native Village of Tatitlek), chairman of the board for the Chugach Alaska Corporation

Stan Jones, author and former journalist

Patience Anderson Faulkner (Sugpiaq), legal technician and paralegal