March 24, 1989: The Exxon Valdez Disaster

March 24, 1989: The freighter Exxon Valdez, a supertanker run by Exxon, runs aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The ship spilled 10.8 million gallons of crude oil over the next few days, making life miserable for area wildlife.

The ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was accused of operating the ship while drunk. He was cleared of that charge, but was convicted of negligent discharge of oil, fined $50,000, and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service. As of March 24, 2022, he is still alive.

Hazelwood quickly turned from the villain of the story to a mere henchman. Exxon, formerly Standard Oil (or "Esso"), quickly adopted an attitude that could be summed up by platitudes such as "That's life," and "Not our fault."

Environmental activism was on the rise. At the end of 1988, instead of a Person of the Year, Time magazine named "Endangered Earth" its "Planet of the Year." The Presidency of Ronald Reagan, with its proud blatant disregard for America's ecology and natural resources, was over, and his Vice President, George H.W. Bush, an oil company executive before going into politics, had gained the highest office in the land party on a pledge to become "the Environmental President."

Soon, activists began wearing anti-Exxon T-shirts and buttons. There were public demonstrations in New York and Washington against the oil companies, and corporate greed in general. The one in New York, on April 23, 1990, was my first participation in a political demonstration. And the Persian Gulf War of August 1990 to March 1991 was largely seen as a war for oil, and protestors called Bush out on it, with little success.

The Exxon Valdez disaster was the largest oil spill in American history, until 2010, when BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico broke all records. The difference in the responses was stark: BP committed itself fully to the cleanup and to reparations, and its reputation actually improved.

The Exxon Valdez had been launched in 1986, and required $30 million worth of repairs. To avoid the stigma of the spill, it was renamed Exxon Mediterranean. Exxon sold the ship in 1993, and it remained in use until 2012, when, under the ownership of Hong Kong, the flag of Panama, and the name Oriental Nicety, it was sold for scrap.

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March 24, 1989 was a Friday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 115-11 at the Boston Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Detroit Pistons, 112-96 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Joe Dumars scored 35 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 135-122 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Dallas Mavericks, 114-105 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 102-99 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.") Despite the Rockets' loss, Hakeem Olajuwon led all scorers on the night with 36.

* And the Chicago Bulls beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 128-113 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Michael Jordan scored 34.

There were 4 games played in the NHL:

* The Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Winnipeg Arena. Randy Carlyle scored the winning goal with 1:15 left in overtime.