On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground striking Bligh's reef off the coastof Alaska spilling more than 11 million gallons, or 257,000 barrels, of oil. The spill covered more than 1,300 miles of shoreline along the Alaskan Peninsula. The environmental losses were immense -- to fisheries, subsistence livelihoods, tourism, and wildlife.The spill ranked 34th on a list of the world's largest oil spills in the past 25 years and came to be seen as the nation's biggest environmental disaster since Three Mile Island. This event had a profound impacton my life and made me more aware of the need to protect our environment in all facets of life.