March 24:

1989 : Exxon Valdez runs aground

The worst oil spill in U.S. territory begins when the supertanker
Exxon Valdez, owned and operated by the Exxon Corporation, runs
aground on a reef in Prince William Sound in southern Alaska. An
estimated 11 million gallons of oil eventually spilled into the water.
Attempts to contain the massive spill were unsuccessful, and wind and
currents spread the oil more than 100 miles from its source,
eventually polluting more than 700 miles of coastline. Hundreds of
thousands of birds and animals were adversely affected by the
environmental disaster.

It was later revealed that Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of the
Valdez, was drinking at the time of the accident and allowed an
uncertified officer to steer the massive vessel. In March 1990,
Hazelwood was convicted of misdemeanor negligence, fined $50,000, and
ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service. In July 1992, an
Alaska court overturned Hazelwood's conviction, citing a federal
statute that grants freedom from prosecution to those who report an
oil spill.

Exxon itself was condemned by the National Transportation Safety Board
and in early 1991 agreed under pressure from environmental groups to
pay a penalty of $100 million and provide $1 billion over a 10-year
period for the cost of the cleanup. However, later in the year, both
Alaska and Exxon rejected the agreement, and in October 1991 the oil
giant settled the matter by paying $25 million, less than 4 percent of
the cleanup aid promised by Exxon earlier that year.

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General Interest
1989 : Exxon Valdez runs aground
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihVideoCategory&id=4860

1603 : Queen Elizabeth I dies
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4859

1996 : Shannon Lucid enters Mir
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=4861

1999 : NATO bombs Yugoslavia
history.com/tdih.do?action=tdihArticleCategory&id=6846

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