Alaska Running Out of Places to Put Oily Waste

Exxon is running out of places to store oily waste, slowing down the cleanup of its March 24 oil spill and threatening to shut it down in some places as early as today, state officials reported Thursday.

Oily goo, oil-water mixtures, crude-soaked clothes and absorbent pads have filled nearly every available barge, dumpster and container in Homer, from where the western part of the spill is being attacked, said Lester Leatherberry of the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Leatherberry, whose agency is monitoring the Exxon cleanup, said he spent eight hours flying over the area Wednesday and “there didn’t seem to be anybody working anywhere” in the Gulf of Alaska and Kenai Peninsula. He said the lack of storage space was the major reason for the slowdown.

More than 20 tons of animals killed by the oil spill also wait in deep freeze while Exxon and government officials try to agree on a way to dispose of the carcasses.

The dead animals, including more than 9,400 birds and 600 sea otters, were recovered from the sludge and sheen of the 11 million gallons of Alaskan crude oil that was dumped into Prince William Sound when the tanker Exxon Valdez slammed into a reef.

Exxon spokesman Fred Davis said the company was waiting for government approval of a 21-page waste management plan submitted May 1 that calls for burning and burying solid wastes and running liquid wastes through the water ballast treatment plant at the Alyeska pipeline terminal.