CAMEO—Valdez: Charting the Progress of the Spill Cleanup1

Abstract

ABSTRACT On the morning of March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound. The vessel was carrying more than 53 million gallons of North Slope crude oil of which almost 11 million gallons were spilled into the water. The immediately impacted area included most of the western part of the sound, but as the time went by the impacted area expanded to include parts of Seward, Homer, and Kodiak. This event became the worst oil spill in the history of this country—identified as a “spill of national significance.” Exxon's major cleanup response was closely monitored by federal, state, and various interest groups. Early in the response it was obvious to the federal on-scene coordinator (FOSC) that a computer-aided management system was necessary to monitor the progress of the spill cleanup operations. CAMEO (computer-aided management of emergency operations)—Valdez then was developed for the FOSC by the scientific support coordinator (SSC) through the efforts of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and immediately put to use.