Oregon is no novice when it comes to natural disasters; we’ve suffered horrible wildfires, severe winter storms, damaging floods, landslides, and even tsunamis. Unfortunately, Mother Nature isn’t the only destructive force in Oregon – sometimes man-made disasters cause huge amounts of damage. The New Carissa oil spill in 1999 is considered the worst in the Beaver State’s history.

In the early morning hours of February 4, 1999, winds were high and ocean swells topped 26 feet. The crew on the New Carissa was on its way to Coos Bay to pick up a shipment of wood chips, but conditions were too dangerous.
By NOAA - NOAA Office of Response and Restoration/Public Domain/Wikimedia
The crew dropped anchor 1.7 nautical miles from shore to wait out the storm, but the single anchor's chain was too short, and the ship dragged it toward shore.
By the time the crew realized that they were heading inland, it was too late. They were unable to hoist the anchor and change course, and the New Carissa ran aground on the beach, about three miles north of Coos Bay.
Bureau of Land Management/flickr
The crew was quickly rescued, but there was no way to get the ship free. The New Carissa couldn't get unstuck on her own, and the nearest salvage tug boat was located in Astoria, more than 200 miles up the coast. It was unable to reach the ship until February 8th, and by then it was too late.
Bureau of Land Management/flickr
The New Carissa had already developed a crack in its hull, and there was 400,000 gallons of fuel onboard. 70,000 gallons of fuel leaked into the ocean and onto the beach, creating an enormous environmental disaster.
Bureau of Land Management/flickr

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Officials tried to siphon the oil off the ship with pumps, but that didn't work, so ultimately the U.S. Navy used explosives to ignite the fuel in an attempt to burn it off. Half of the oil was burned off, but the oil in the bow was still left.
Bureau of Land Management/flickr
On February 11th, after more severe weather, the ship broke in half. The ship's stern was still grounded, but officials weren't immediately worried about it, since it didn't contain any fuel. In June, a salvage company was hired to break up and remove it.
Erin/flickr
The bow section was eventually towed out to sea and sunk in March, though it took quite a bit of doing to sink her. After discharging explosives and pumping 70 rounds of shells into her, she still floated. The U.S. Navy finally used a torpedo, which sent her to the bottom of the sea.
In a series of debacles, the state of Oregon ended up in a lawsuit with the salvage company, and part of the New Carissa's stern was a fixture on the beach for years. In 2008, a new company was hired, and it brought in two huge barges and set up cranes. The company cut the stern into pieces and lifted them onto the barges, eventually finishing the job in November, 2008.
Bureau of Land Management/flickr
The New Carissa's fuel and oil killed more than 3,000 seabirds. Many of the birds were threatened species such as marbled murrelets and western snowy plovers. Harbor seals, fish, and shellfish were also impacted, and fishing business and tourism were affected.
Natalie Fobes/Corbis Documentary Collection via Getty Images
Local beaches were affected by the foul oil and fuel for at least a month, with tarballs continually washing up on shore.
The New Carissa's oil spill could have been much worse, but it still did tremendous damage to our precious natural resources.
Jeff Arsenault/flickr
Green Atlas Shipping (the owner of the New Carissa),the U.S. government, and the State of Oregon sued and countersued each other, and lawsuits went on for years. Eventually, the state received a settlement of $22.1 million. Some private businesses also sued, and were able to reach small settlements for their damages.

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