Cleaning Up after the Exxon Valdez Was A Mistake Through many hours of research I have determined that the spill cleaning techniques used to clean the Prince William Sound area of Alaska did more harm than leaving the oil where it was. The Alaskan oil spill has become the most studied and managed event of its kind. Although there is not much that can be done about the marine life that came into direct contact with the crude oil, the geologic effects that the oil introduced into the area should have been left to nature to repair. To understand the effects of the oil to the area, it is