Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill; one of the most notorious man-made environmental disasters in history. Can we finally give the site a clean bill of health?
Paul Boehm of scientific consultancy Exponent International led a survey of Prince William Sound in Alaska, where the oil tanker foundered in 1989. The team collected more than 700 samples from 25 sites throughout the area that were known to have been heavily contaminated by the spill. “We found that the remnants from the spill today are found in small patches at very few beaches,” says Boehm. The oil that remains is…
