Exponent Scientists Publish Article Entitled, “Distribution and Weathering of Crude Oil Residues on Shorelines 18 Years After the Exxon Valdez Spill”

In 2007, a systematic study was conducted to evaluate the form, location, and chemical composition of residues of oil buried on Prince William Sound (PWS) shorelines, 18 years after the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS). Sites known to contain residual oil residues were surveyed. Over 90% of the samples from all sites contained light or no SSO at all. Most of the EVOS oil in PWS has been eliminated due to natural weathering. Even where SSO patches remain, most are highly weathered, sporadically distributed at a small number of sites, and widely separated from biologically productive lower intertidal zones where most foraging by wildlife occurs.

Boehm PD, Page DS, Brown JS, Neff JM, Bragg JR, Atlas RM. Distribution and weathering of crude oil residues on shorelines 18 years after the Exxon Valdez spill. Environ Sci Technol 2008; 42:9210–9216.