Prepared in 2011 for a PR project covering Exxon's PR responses after the crisis

1. Exxon Valdez Spill
Elite

2. Content
Valdez Oil Spill
Tough People For PR
Causes
Late Actions
Cleanup
Effects
Bad PR?

3. Valdez

4. Valdez Oil Spill
• Prince William Sound,
Alaska
• Spilled 26,000 – 750,000
barrels
• Covered 2,100km of
coastline
• 28,000 km2 of ocean

5. Tough People For PR
• Oil Spill Trustee Council
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin.
• Greenpeace
• Sierra Club
• Defenders of Wildlife

6. Identified Causes
• Fail to provide crew
• Fail to maneuver the vessel

7. Identified Causes
• Broken RAYCAS system
• Iceberg monitoring is never installed

8. Identified Causes
• Half size crew
• 12-14 Hours shifts

9. Identified Causes
• Tanker inspections was not done
• Lack of available equipment for the
cleanup

10. After 1 Day
No Action!

11. After 10 Days
No Comment from CEO Rawl

12. After 10 Days
Advertisements about Exxon’s
Excuse

13. After 10 Days
False Press Conference

14. After 10 Days
CEO Does NOT apologize!

15. After 1 Month
Cleanup Begins!

16. Cleanup
• Solvent Mixture
• High-pressure hot water

17. Cleanup
• Burning
• Mechanical Cleanup

18. High-pressure Hot Water
Destroyed
• Microbial Populations
• Organisms

19. Immediate Effects
• 100,000 – 250,000 Seabirds
• 2,800 Sea otters
• 12 river otters
• 300 harbor seals
• 247 bald eagles
• 22 orcas
• Billions of salmon and herring eggs

20. Jury Award
• $287 million for actual damages
• $2.5 billion for punitive damages

21. Exxon Spent
• $2 billion on cleaning up
• $1 billion to settle charges

22. Oil Still Remains!
• Early 2007 98 m3 of oil remain
• Declining 4% per year

23. Oil Still Remains!

24. Bad PR?
Aftermath
Delivery
Expectations
Promises

25. Bad PR?
• No Extensive emergency plan
• Not sufficient emergency media response
plan
• Ignorance
• Refused assistance
• No spokesman
• Interview refusals
• Delay in cleanup

26. Bad PR?
• Failed to
– Follow own procedure;
– Leadership;
– Concern;
– Involve media;
– Respond to activists
• Short-term gain is off-set by long-term
financial, legal & reputational pressures