Back to top

Largest Oil Spills Affecting U.S. Waters Since 1969

Thousands of spills occur in U.S. waters annuallyโ€”most small, less than one barrel. This infographic shows where and when spills over 10,000 barrels or 420,000 gallons have occurred.

Map of North America showing circles of various sizes representing spills in U.S. waters. The depicted spills are outlined in the table of data below the graphic.
Largest oil spills affecting U.S. waters since 1969-2024. Image credit: NOAA Office of Response and Restoration. Click to enlarge.
Download infographic PDF
Download infographic JPG

Every year, the Office of Response and Restoration responds to over 150 oil and chemical spills in U.S. waters. Oil spills are more common than you might think, and they happen in many different ways.

These spills can threaten life, property, and public natural resources. They can also substantially disrupt marine transportation with potential widespread economic impacts. Derived from records and information kept by NOAAโ€™s Office of Response and Restoration, NOAAโ€™s list of largest spills is ranked by spill volume, however, spill volume is only one factor in determining the overall significance of a spill. Location, time of year, environmental sensitivity, and type of oil are also important. Even small spills can cause significant environmental and economic harm depending upon where they occur.

Derived from records and information kept by NOAAโ€™s Office of Response and Restoration, NOAAโ€™s list of largest spills is ranked by spill volume, however, spill volume is only one factor in determining the overall significance of a spill. Location, time of year, environmental sensitivity, and type of oil are also important. Even small spills can cause significant environmental and economic harm depending upon where they occur.

Infographic Text:
Largest Oil Spills Affecting U.S. Waters Since 1969
Date Incident Name Location Gallons Barrels Incident Type Oil Type
Date

4/20/2010

Incident Name

Deepwater Horizon

Location

Gulf of Mexico

Gallons

133,980,000

Barrels

3,190,000

Incident Type

Exploratory Well

Oil Type

Crude

Date

6/3/1979

Incident Name

Ixtoc 1[i]

Location

Gulf of Mexico

Gallons

126,000,000

Barrels

3,000,000

Incident Type

Exploratory Well

Oil Type

Crude

Date

2/26/1977

Incident Name

Hawaiian Patriot

Location Hawaii Gallons

31,000,000

Barrels

738,095

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/31/1975

Incident Name

Epic Colocotronis

Location

Puerto Rico

Gallons

18,000,000

Barrels

428,571

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

3/24/1989

Incident Name

Exxon Valdez

Location Alaska Gallons

11,000,000

Barrels

261,905

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

11/1/1979

Incident Name

Burmah Agate

Location

Galveston, TX

Gallons

10,700,000

Barrels

254,762

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/31/1975

Incident Name Corinthos Location

Delaware River

Gallons

10,500,000

Barrels

250,000

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

2/27/1971

Incident Name

Texaco Oklahoma

Location

Cape Hatteras

Gallons

7,900,000

Barrels

188,095

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

12/15/1976

Incident Name

Argo Merchant

Location

Nantucket, MA

Gallons

7,700,000

Barrels

183,333

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

#6

Date

6/22/1972

Incident Name

Schuylkill River Spill

Location

Douglassville, PA

Gallons

7,000,000

Barrels

166,667

Incident Type

Hurricane

Oil Type

Waste Oil

Date

8/30/2005

Incident Name

Hurricane Katrina

Location Louisiana Gallons

7,000,000

Barrels

166,667

Incident Type Hurricane Oil Type

Crude

Date

6/8/1990

Incident Name

Mega Borg

Location

Offshore, TX

Gallons

5,100,000

Barrels

121,429

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/28/1969

Incident Name

Santa Barbara

Location California Gallons

4,000,000

Barrels

95,238

Incident Type

Oil Platform

Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/4/1988

Incident Name

Ashland Petroleum

Location

Monongahela River

Gallons

3,800,000

Barrels

90,476

Incident Type

Storage Tank

Oil Type

#2

Date

6/14/1971

Incident Name

Santa Augusta

Location

St. Croix, USVI

Gallons

3,300,000

Barrels

78,571

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

7/30/1984

Incident Name Alvenus Location

Calcasieu, LA

Gallons

2,800,000

Barrels

66,667

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

2/10/1970

Incident Name

Chevron Main Pass Block 41

Location

Offshore, LA

Gallons

2,730,000

Barrels

65,000

Incident Type Well Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/6/1972

Incident Name

USS General M.C. Meigs

Location

Cape Flattery, WA

Gallons

2,300,000

Barrels

54,762

Incident Type

Troop Ship

Oil Type

Bunker

Date

5/26/1976

Incident Name

Wellen Oil Company

Location

Hackensack River, NJ

Gallons

2,000,000

Barrels

47,619

Incident Type

Tank Farm

Oil Type

#6

Date

12/26/1988

Incident Name

UMTB 283

Location

Shumagin Is, AK

Gallons

2,000,000

Barrels

47,619

Incident Type Barge Oil Type

#2

Date

11/11/2005

Incident Name

DBL 152

Location

Gulf of Mexico

Gallons

1,900,000

Barrels

45,238

Incident Type Barge Oil Type

Bunker

Date

6/19/2006

Incident Name

Citgo Refinery

Location

Lake Charles, LA

Gallons

2,268,000

Barrels

54,000

Incident Type

Refinery

Oil Type

Waste Oil

Date

3/18/1973

Incident Name

Zoe Colocotroni

Location

Puerto Rico

Gallons

1,500,000

Barrels

35,714

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

1/13/1974

Incident Name Zannis Location

Guayanilla, PR

Gallons

1,500,000

Barrels

35,714

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

10/31/1984

Incident Name

Puerto Rican

Location

San Francisco, CA

Gallons

1,500,000

Barrels

35,714

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Bunker

Date

12/17/1976

Incident Name Sansinena Location

Los Angeles, CA

Gallons

1,260,000

Barrels

30,000

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

7/26/2010

Incident Name

Kalamazoo River

Location Michigan Gallons

1,100,000

Barrels

26,190

Incident Type Pipeline Oil Type

Crude

Date

9/17/1989

Incident Name

Hurricane Hugo

Location

St. Croix, USVI

Gallons

1,008,000

Barrels

24,000

Incident Type

Tank Farm

Oil Type

#6

Date

2004

Incident Name

Taylor Energy Platform[iv]

Location

Gulf of Mexico

Gallons

1,000,000

Barrels

23,809

Incident Type

Oil Platform

Oil Type

Crude

Date

7/26/1996

Incident Name

Reedy River

Location

Simpsonville, SC

Gallons

957,000

Barrels

22,786

Incident Type Pipeline Oil Type

#2

Date

1/18/1971

Incident Name

Oregon Standard

Location

San Francisco, CA

Gallons

840,000

Barrels

20,000

Incident Type

Collision

Oil Type

Bunker Fuel

Date

1/19/1996

Incident Name

North Cape

Location

Rhode Island

Gallons

828,000

Barrels

19,714

Incident Type

Tank Barge

Oil Type

Diesel

Date

1/7/1994

Incident Name

Morris J. Berman

Location

Puerto Rico

Gallons

800,000

Barrels

19,047

Incident Type

Tank Barge

Oil Type

Bunker

Date

3/6/1990

Incident Name

Cibro Savannah

Location

Linden, NJ

Gallons

700,000

Barrels

16,667

Incident Type Barge Oil Type

#2

Date

7/28/1990

Incident Name

Apex Barges

Location

Galveston, TX

Gallons

692,000

Barrels

16,476

Incident Type Barge Oil Type

Feed Stock

Date

10/13/2017

Incident Name

Mississippi Canyon 209

Location

Offshore Louisiana

Gallons 672,000 Barrels

16,000

Incident Type Pipeline Oil Type

Crude

Date

7/13/1988

Incident Name

Nord Pacific

Location

Corpus Christi, TX

Gallons

650,000

Barrels

15,476

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

12/7/2022

Incident Name

Mill Creek Pond Inland Oil Spill

Location

Devon, KS

Gallons

588,000

Barrels

14,000

Incident Type Pipeline Oil Type

Diluted Bitumen

Date

3/6/1991

Incident Name

Vista Bella[ii]

Location

USVI and Puerto Rico

Gallons

570,000

Barrels

13,571

Incident Type Barge Oil Type

Bunker

Date

1/1/1990

Incident Name

Exxon Bayway

Location

Arthur Kill, NJ

Gallons

567,000

Barrels

13,500

Incident Type Pipeline Oil Type

#2

Date

11/28/2000

Incident Name

Westchester

Location

Buras, LA

Gallons

554,000

Barrels

13,190

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

Crude

Date

12/4/1986

Incident Name

Amazon Venture

Location

Savannah River, SC

Gallons

500,000

Barrels

11,905

Incident Type Tanker Oil Type

#6

Date

5/10/2019

Incident Name

Bayport Channel Collision

Location

Houston Ship Channel, TX

Gallons 462,000 Barrels

11,000

Incident Type Collision Oil Type

Reformate

Date

1/23/2010

Incident Name

Eagle Otome

Location

Port Arthur, TX

Gallons

462,000

Barrels

11,000

Incident Type

Tanker

Oil Type

Crude

Date

12/19/1978

Incident Name

Peck Slip

Location

Puerto Rico

Gallons

460,000

Barrels

10,952

Incident Type

Barge

Oil Type

Bunker

Date

7/22/1991

Incident Name

Tenyo Maru[iii]

Location

Cape Flattery, WA

Gallons

450,000

Barrels

10,714

Incident Type

Fishing Vessel

Oil Type

Mixed

Date

9/28/1985

Incident Name

Grand Eagle

Location

Marcus Hook, PA

Gallons

435,000

Barrels

10,357

Incident Type

Tanker

Oil Type

Crude

Date

7/23/2008

Incident Name

DM932

Location

New Orleans, LA

Gallons

420,000

Barrels

10,000

Incident Type

Barge

Oil Type

#6

[i] Occurred in Mexico waters but oil traveled to US waters
[ii] Occurred in Canadian waters but oil traveled to US waters  
[iii] Occurred in the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis but oil traveled to US waters
[iv] The Taylor Energy spill has been ongoing since 2004 and the volume isn't known at this time. Detailed flow rate monitoring in 2018 indicated the release of approximately 900 gallons per day. 1M gallons were collected via a containment system 2019-2022. https://darrp.noaa.gov/oil-spills/taylor-energy

Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to develop a complete list, there may be incidents that NOAA was not involved in and therefore are not represented here. This list is also focused on spills on or into navigable waters. There have been large terrestrial and underground spills that are not listed here. Also note that spill volumes may be inexact as some of these incidents involved fires, sinkings, hurricanes, and other conditions causing uncertainty.

Last updated Thursday, May 30, 2024 1:50pm PDT