The largest ever oil spill, which occurred on March 24, 1989 at 4 minutes past midnight. The oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Alaska’s Prince William releasing a total of 11,000,000 gallons of Alaska North Slope crude oil that leaked from the ruptured hull of the ship, impaled by the jagged rocks of Bligh Reef. Within two months, the oil had been driven along a path stretching 470 miles to the southwest. The initial cleanup of the spill took three years, and the cost was over $2.1 billion