On 21 September 2017, an estimated 150 gallons of Alaska North Slope (ANS) crude oil were accidentally released during crude oil loading arm leak testing at Berth 5 of the Alyeska Marine Terminal.
As part of the post-spill monitoring efforts, mussels were collected from the same 3 Port Valdez stations annually sampled as part of the PWSRCAC Long Term Environmental Monitoring Program (LTEMP). Collections at Saw Island (SAW) adjacent to Berth 5, Jackson Point (JAC) east of Berth 3, and Gold Creek (GOC) across the port occurred on Sept 29-30 and again, as a follow up, 70 days later on Dec 7-9, 2017. This report describes and illustrates the pre- and immediate post-spill hydrocarbon signatures plus the state of recovery in Port Valdez mussels 70 days after the spill.