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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - An oil spill discovered earlier this month in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay was the largest ever on the North Slope, according to an official estimate released Friday.
The estimated spill size of 202,000 to 267,000 gallons far surpasses the 38,000 gallons spilled in 2001, but is much less than the 11 million gallons spilled in Prince William Sound when the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989.
"I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," said Linda Giguere with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The state has kept comprehensive records of oil spills for a decade, with more cursory record-keeping dating to the 1970s, when the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was built.
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