The Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, March 1989. Tuesday marks 20 years since the Exxon Valdez dumped nearly 11 million of gallons of crude oil into Alaskan waters, resulting in the most severe impacts on the environment of any spill anywhere. I was there and will attest to the graveness of the situation then, and now -- my memories of that day are graphic.  I boarded the tanker a few hours after the spill began to enforce clean-up standards.  The pungent, toxic smell of the oil is still fresh in my memory today. The spill eventually devastated hundreds …