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
Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland available to the state, and no legitimate state interest apart from a desire for cheaper oil. This case is an exception to the rules set forth in "Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.". Justice Blackmun, with the only vote in favor of Exxon, wrote the dissenting opinion for the court. Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Maryland, 437 U.S. 117 (1978), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld a Maryland law prohibiting oil producers and refiners from operating service stations within its borders. The challengers, including Exxon, claimed that the