McClatchy Newspapers: As debate rages over the amount of oil pouring into the Gulf of Mexico from deepwater well leak BP can’t stop, plenty of oil spill watchdogs in Alaska think that the Exxon Valdez tanker spill in 1989 was nearly three times its official size of 11 million gallons. At one time, state lawyers pushed to verify the size of the spill, which killed thousands of birds and otters, hundreds of seals and eagles and damaged the livelihoods of many fishermen. However, the state’s interest in the …