Alyeska, the pipeline management company first assumed responsibility for the cleanup, in accordance with the area's contingency planning.

Three methods were tried in the effort to clean up the spill:

•Burning

•Mechanical Cleanup

•Chemical Dispersants

• Preparedness must be strengthened. Exxon was not prepared for a spill of this magnitude--nor were Alyeska

Oil was transferred from the Exxon Valdez (left) to the Exxon Baton Rouge (right), in a successful effort to keep the oil remaining on the Exxon Valdez from spilling into Prince William Sound. About one-fifth of the oil carried by the Exxon Valdez was spilled; the remaining 42 million gallons of oil was safely transferred to the Baton Rouge.

After the remaining cargo was offloaded and the Exxon Valdez was refloated, the vessel was moved to Outside Bay, southwest of Naked Island, where temporary repairs were made. Here, you can see it at anchor in Outside Bay, surrounded by protective boom.

During the first few days of the spill, heavy sheens of oil, such as the sheen visible in this photograph, covered large areas of the surface of Prince William Sound.

Gradually the oil spread further and further from the accident site.

Within a week the oil had spread 90 miles down the coast

A trial burn took place during the early stages of the oil spill. Two ships attached a fire-resistant boom between them and moved slowly through the spill until the boom was full of oil. The two ships then towed it a safe distance from the spill and the oil was lit. Therefore the ensuing fire did not endanger the Exxon Valdez or the oil spill, however, because of continuing unfavourable weather no further burning was attempted.

As the spilled oil moved across the waters of Prince William Sound, rescue workers tried to protect especially sensitive locations, such as this salmon hatchery in the eastern Sound, which they surrounded with protective boom. Boom floats on the water surface and is designed to act as a barrier to oil.

Beginning 3 days after the vessel grounded, a storm pushed large quantities of fresh oil onto the rocky shores of many of the beaches in the Knight Island chain. In this photograph, pooled oil is shown stranded in the rocks.

Eleven million gallons of crude oil leaked into one of the most bountiful marine ecosystems on the planet, killing 1000 to 2800 sea otters, as many as 250,000 seabirds, over 300 harbor seals, and at least 22 orca whales.

Within a week, currents and winds pushed the slick 90 miles from the site of the mishap, out of Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska. It eventually oozed nearly 600 miles away from the wreck, contaminating 1,500 miles of shoreline.

Oil being skimmed from the sea surface. Here, two boats are towing a collection boom. Oil concentrated within the boom is being picked up by the skimmer (the vessel at the apex of the boom).

NOAA scientists at work in the spill response command center at Valdez.

Some of their projects included forecasting the movement and fate of floating oil,

identifying sensitive environments,

evaluating results of surveys of shoreline oiling,

studying the effects of shoreline cleanup methods,.

and coordinating scientific activities during the response

Workers using high-pressure, hot-water washing to clean an oiled shoreline.

In this treatment method, used on many Prince William Sound beaches, oil is hosed from beaches, collected within floating boom, then skimmed from the water surface.

Bags of Exxon Valdez cleanup debris await disposal. Much of the debris collected during the Exxon Valdez cleanup was eventually deposited in a landfill in Oregon State, the closest facility certified to properly handle the waste.

The Exxon Valdez accident was America's worst oil spill

The $5bn punitive damages Exxon Mobil was ordered to pay after America's worst oil spill has been ruled excessive by a US federal appeals court.

Nine years later, Hazelwood starts serving sentence

ANCHORAGE - Capt. Joseph Hazelwood donned an apron and latex gloves this morning to work at an Anchorage soup kitchen, where he will spend the next month doing community service.