Valdez, Alaska The original town site was dismantled and abandoned. From 1975 to 1977, the Trans-Alaska pipeline was built to carry oil from the Prudhoe Bay oil fields in northern Alaska to a terminal in Valdez, the nearest ice-free port. Oil is loaded onto tanker ships for transport. The construction and operation of the pipeline and terminal boosted the economy of Valdez. The 1989 "Exxon Valdez" oil spill occurred as the oil tanker "Exxon Valdez" was leaving the terminal at Valdez full of oil. The spill occurred at Bligh Reef, about from Valdez. Although the oil did not reach Valdez, it devastated
Refugio oil spill rest of the Refugio coastline south of the spill. The spill was much smaller than the nearby 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill on January 28, 1969 in which an oil rig blow-out spilled an estimated of crude oil over a ten-day period. The thick crude oil damaged the coats, skin, beaks, and appendages of hundreds of animals. Workers eventually collected 202 dead birds and 99 dead mammals which included at least 46 sea lions and 12 dolphins. The full impact will never be known since animals may travel a distance before succumbing to their injuries. Sixty-five live birds and sixty-three