Long-term physical and biological recovery of disturbed intertidal beach habitat from simulated oil spill cleanup in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, hydraulic techniques using combinations of high-pressure and heated water were used to mobilize weathered oil from impacted shorelines. During treatment, concerns were raised over the ecological impacts of these treatment methods. We report on a long-term study comparing grain size and infaunal communities in washed and unwashed plots at unoiled beaches treated using these methods.

Status of intertidal infaunal communities following the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

Intertidal infaunal communities were sampled in Prince William Sound, Alaska from 1990-2000 to evaluate impacts and recovery from the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Initial findings suggested that the spill and cleanup depressed abundances of all taxonomic groups. By 1992, abundances of major taxonomic categories at disturbed sites had either converged or paralleled populations at Unoiled sites.