Alaska Drafts New Spill Laws With Strict Fish-Harvest Rules

Alaska drafted emergency rules Friday declaring a “zero tolerance” policy for oil on fish catches, and the governor signed into law measures increasing spill fines and creating a blue-ribbon panel to examine the way oil companies operate in the nation’s largest oil state.

Seven weeks after the Exxon Valdez ran aground, spewing 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaskan waters, oil continued to spread.

New oil spotted near Kodiak prompted the state Department of Fish and Game to cancel herring fishing between Afognak and Kodiak Islands, said Larry Malloy, fisheries biologist in Kodiak, the nation’s No. 1 fishing port.

Shifting tides and breezes brought an influx of oil to herring waters, he said, noting that herring already caught there tested pure.

“Silver dollar-size tar balls have washed up on the Homer spit,” said state Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Joe Bridgman. He said the balls could be removed easily with a shovel.

Officials reported new oil on shores “cleaned” by Exxon, and Bridgman said: “It’s so frustrating for the crews because these people clean the beach and return the next morning and find new oil brought up from below the surface by tidal action. The Coast Guard and Exxon appear reluctant or unable to introduce new technology to clean” below the surface.

Bridgman said the problem of storage space eased Friday, partly because the state approved large lined pits for oily waste storage at the Alyeska terminal in Valdez.

In Anchorage, state officials drafted emergency fish inspection regulations amounting to a zero-tolerance oil policy.

Gov. Steve Cowper signed a bill raising maximum civil fines in negligent spills from $100 million to $500 million, but the new fines came too late to apply to Exxon. He signed a bill making it easier to collect damages and recover costs.

Cowper signed a third measure creating a commission to investigate the Exxon Valdez disaster and make recommendations covering oil management, handling, transportation and spill response.