Valdez

Valdez, city, southern Alaska, a port on Valdez Arm (an inlet of Prince William Sound); settled 1890s as an outfitting point for gold prospectors, incorporated 1901. It is important as the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline (opened 1977), which carries petroleum from the North Slope. Valdez also is a tourist and fishing center. A community college is here; Chugach National Forest, Columbia Glacier, and Worthington Glacier are nearby. The area was reached by Spanish explorers in 1790 and named for the Spanish minister of marine Antonio Valdes Basan. The city was severely damaged by an earthquake in 1964. In March 1989 the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, about 40 km (about 25 mi) south of Valdez, spilling more than 10 million gallons of oil. Population 3,079 (1980); 4,068 (1990); 4,036 (2000); 4,015 (2005 estimate).