This ArcGIS story map explores just one spill from each of the 30 years since the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 was passed. While these 30 spills represent a small fraction of overall events, we hope to shine a light on the real places and people who have been impacted by pollution and benefited from the Oil Pollution Act.
Story Maps
Dive into the science with one of our StoryMaps, which combine maps, text, and other multi-media in an immersive online platform.
![Stellar sea lions at rookery (NOAA). Sea lions.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/1280_0z5LdAlifDki.jpg?itok=5mENU98t)
Sea lions, seals, dolphins, and whales are some of the marine mammals at risk of oil spills and marine pollution. To prepare for future disasters, NOAA’s marine mammal and oil spill experts worked together to publish "Guidelines for Assessing Exposure and Impacts of Oil Spills on Marine Mammals." Explore some of the new information and science from the document in our latest story map.
![Sea turtle covered in oil recovered during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (NOAA). An oiled sea turtle.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/Figure%201.1-2%20%284%29.jpg?itok=daJFdAGW)
To best prepare oil spill experts for oil spills where sea turtles could be impacted, NOAA has released “Guidelines for Oil Spill Response and Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Sea Turtles.” Top sea turtle and oil spill experts came together to develop these guidelines.
![The U.S. Coast Guard using ERMA during the response to Hurricane Dorian. Two people in blue uniforms looking at a screen with a map on it.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/IMG_0127_0.jpg?itok=2_udP9Pk)
When hurricanes push displaced boats into shipping channels or sensitive habitats, they need to be cleared out fast. NOAA uses the Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA®) to gather and display information about boats that are displaced during hurricanes so responders can efficiently address these threats.
![A boat on water with a monument on the shoreline in the background.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/unnamed.png?itok=jjgz3fKJ)
What can $28 million do to restore polluted waters across America? In FY19 NOAA worked with our co-trustees to reach settlements to restore natural resources injured by pollution. Seven cases were settled, including one oil spill, one ship grounding, and five hazardous waste sites. This $28 million will go toward restoring habitats, fisheries, public spaces, and the communities and economies that depend on them.
![Beaches in Delaware and Maryland were included in a study analyzing the economic impacts of marine debris on tourism-dependent communities. Image credit: NOAA. A sea of people on a beach sitting under differently colored umbrellas.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/IMG_5483.jpg?itok=tJw4-HKg)
By examining beachgoer behavior, this new study helps us understand the potential economic effects of marine debris on the coastal tourism economy.
![Cleanup worker on beach after Exxon Valdez. Image credit: Alaska Public Archive. Cleanup worker on beach after Exxon Valdez. Image credit: Alaska Public Archive.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/noaa_271_DS1.jpg?itok=jQ8TP55R)
Thirty years ago on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred. It was America's largest oil spill at the time, and is largely credited with the passage of the Oil Pollution Act.
![From Aug. 27-Sept. 4, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) collected damage assessment imagery in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The aerial imagery was collected in specific areas identified by FEMA and the National Weather Service. Image credit: NGS. From Aug. 27-Sept. 4, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) collected damage assessment imagery in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The aerial imagery was collected in specific areas identified by FEMA and the National Weather Service. Image credit: NGS.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/noaa_270_DS1.jpg?itok=iZv-J9Eh)
In an update on the 2017 hurricane season in August, NOAA announced the likelihood for an above-normal hurricane season. With Hurricane Harvey came a new record for the wettest tropical system in the continental U.S. and shortly after, the Category 5 Hurricane Irma broke yet another record, becoming the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/noaa_269_DS1.jpg?itok=9fr-xfOq)
This map highlights the $34.3 million NOAA secured in 2018 with cooperating companies across America to restore natural resources damaged by industrial pollution and oil spills. Six pollution cases were settled, resolving several companies of their liability, and totaling $34.3 million that will go toward restoration.
![The Lower Duwamish River is a Superfund site near Seattle. Image credit: Environmental Protection Agency. The Lower Duwamish River is a Superfund site near Seattle. Image credit: Environmental Protection Agency.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/noaa_268_DS1.jpg?itok=dZWpl-4o)
The Duwamish River has been a hazardous waste site since the mid-1900s. Though it was once a wide, meandering river with large areas of mudflats and marshes, by the 1940s the 9-mile estuary had transformed into a 5-mile industrial waterway — destroying 97% of the original habitat.
![Dr. Brian Stacy, NOAA veterinarian, prepares to clean an oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle. Image credit: NOAA and Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources. Dr. Brian Stacy, NOAA veterinarian, prepares to clean an oiled Kemp's Ridley turtle. Image credit: NOAA and Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources.](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20201218040115im_/https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/weekly_thumbnail/public/noaa_267_DS1.jpg?itok=ihSuBcLN)
To best prepare oil spill experts for oil spills where sea turtles could be impacted, NOAA has released “Guidelines for OIl Spill Response and Natural Resource Damage Assessment: Sea Turtles." The document is accessible online.