Alaska Demands Binding Plans for Oil Spills

The state of Alaska, source of one-fourth of U.S. oil, may forbid oil tankers to enter state waters unless oil companies agree to binding spill response plans, officials said Sunday.

The state has begun investigating how to force the oil industry to respond to a spill in the wake of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

Officials have launched a three-pronged approach that could bring about a radical change in oil shipments from Alaska to refineries on the West, Gulf and East coasts, said officials in the state Department of Environmental Conservation and the attorney general’s office.

First, Commissioner of Environmental Conservation Dennis Kelso said, the oil pipeline terminal run by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which also operates the Alaska oil pipeline, will not be allowed to stay open unless Alyeska retracts statements that its oil response plan is simply a guideline.

Second, Assistant Atty. Gen. Michele Brown said, oil tanker operators may have to forge separate agreements with Alaska promising to clean up a spill if they want to keep running tankers.

Third, Kelso said, the United States must change tanker traffic operations nationwide.

The new get-tough approach comes at the conclusion of a weeklong inquiry in which Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi said his company used its own spill contingency plan, not approved by the state, and Alyeska officials testified that their state-approved plan was not legally binding but merely a guideline.