P.M. Briefing : Prodded by Administration, Exxon Will Add 1,000 to Cleanup Crew

on Corp., under prodding from the Bush Administration, announced today that it plans to sharply increase the number of workers and ships cleaning spilled oil from more than 300 miles of Alaska shoreline.

Transportation Secretary Samuel K. Skinner called the move “a substantial increase” in manpower and resources by Exxon and said it improves the likelihood that the oil company will meet its cleanup goals for this summer. Nevertheless, Skinner said, the cleanup effort might still have to be continued in the spring of 1990. Exxon said it is confident that it can clean the shoreline by September with the added manpower and ships.

In a revised cleanup plan submitted to the Coast Guard, Exxon said it will increase the number of people involved in the summer cleanup from a previously planned 3,400 workers to 5,000. It also said it will bring in seven additional barges and 17 more landing craft, bringing the number of vessels to 70.

The additional manpower and vessels “will allow the number of people directly employed on the battlefront--on the shoreline--to increase by over 1,000 from 1,475 to 2,500,” William D. Stevens, president of Exxon Co. U.S.A., said in a statement.