Ill-Fated Oil Tanker May Leave Alaska for San Diego Today

The oil tanker Exxon Valdez may be towed out of Prince William Sound in Alaska today to begin its journey to San Diego, where the vessel that caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history will be repaired, senior Coast Guard officers said Tuesday.

Coast Guard Capt. Jack Scarborough, captain of the Port of San Diego, and Coast Guard officers in Valdez, Alaska, said that initial plans called for the giant ship to be towed away on either Tuesday or today. However, officials in Valdez said the paper work for Coast Guard approval for the tow was not complete on Tuesday.

Scarborough said the Coast Guard is preparing for the ship’s arrival at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co., where it will be in dry dock for about nine months while it undergoes repairs. Nassco built the Valdez in 1986 and the shipyard was awarded a $25-million repair contract by Exxon last month.

Scarborough said he will meet with San Diego city officials Thursday to brief them on the precautions that the Coast Guard and Exxon are taking to assure that the Valdez will not pose a pollution problem while in transit and when it arrives in San Diego Bay.

The 2,500-mile trip south is expected to take three to four weeks.

“There will be more precautions taken for this ship than for one coming in here with a load of natural gas,” Scarborough said. “We’re doing this primarily because we want the public to be satisfied that we are taking extra precautions to look out for their interest. Several government agencies and environmental groups have expressed their concerns to us.”

Last week, Exxon officials said that the tanks and exterior of the Valdez have been cleaned of oil and oil residue. Nevertheless, Scarborough said the Coast Guard plans to conduct aerial surveillance of the vessel while it is under tow to ensure that it is not leaking oil.

“But the key fact here is that the vessel is now empty and no longer a pollution threat. . . . We’re not looking at her as a major pollution threat. Our main concern now is more of navigational safety; that she gets here without breaking up. . . . Our engineers from Washington (State) have done an inspection and declared her safe for ocean transit,” Scarborough said.

Exxon executives said an area 700 feet long and 100 feet wide will have to be repaired on the ship’s hull. In addition, the hull has a hole that measures about 20 feet by 15 feet, “large enough to drive a truck trailer through.” The ship’s overall dimensions are listed at 987 feet by 166 feet.

The Valdez ran aground off the Alaskan coast in March, spilling about 11 million gallons of oil into Price William Sound and fouling hundreds of miles of pristine shoreline.

Art Coe, spokesman for the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, said that officials of his office were briefed by Exxon and Nassco on plans to bring the Valdez to San Diego and expressed confidence that the vessel poses no pollution threat.

However, assurances that the Valdez is no longer a pollution threat and expressions of confidence by the Coast Guard and local officials have failed to alleviate concerns of local environmentalists.

Portland Raised Objections

In a five-page letter full of environmental concerns and recommendations to the local Coast Guard office, the San Diego-based Environmental Health Coalition decried the lack of a “comprehensive plan to ensure the protection of the environment and safety of the vessel.”

Exxon’s initial plans called for repairs to the vessel to be done at Portland, Ore. On April 17, Coast Guard Capt. J.W. Calhoun, captain of the Port of Portland, notified Exxon in a letter of a stringent list of conditions that the company was supposed to meet before bringing the Valdez to that port.

Calhoun’s letter ordered Exxon to put together a list of environmental and safety safeguards to ensure that the ship posed no threat to the port. Calhoun also presented the company with several safety demands that would have to be met before the Coast Guard authorized the Valdez to navigate the Columbia River on its way to Portland.

In addition, Calhoun advised Exxon officials that before authorizing the company to tow the vessel to Portland, the Coast Guard would seek input from “affected users, environmental groups and the general public.” The oil company was further advised that the Coast Guard would work closely with state officials from Washington and Oregon, who “will be included in the review of your plan.”

Finally, Calhoun insisted that Exxon present a detailed plan to prevent pollution spills while the ship was in dry dock and contingency plans to deal with any spills. While Calhoun was presenting Exxon with the demands, Oregon’s governor and Portland port officials were expressing their reluctance over bringing the Valdez to Portland.

Exxon balked at taking the ship to Portland, selecting San Diego instead. At a press conference held last week at the Nassco yard, Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank J. Iarossi said that Nassco was the “logical place” for the repairs to be done, despite earlier announcements that the company wanted the work done in Portland.

In an earlier interview, Jay Powell, special projects director for the Environmental Health Coalition, said that local Coast Guard officials have failed to impose the stringent conditions on Exxon that were imposed by the Coast Guard in Portland. Powell also expressed disappointment that local Coast Guard officials have not asked for any public input in the matter.

Among the recommendations offered Powell’s group was a proposal that the Coast Guard enact a “comprehensive plan of action” to monitor the Valdez during docking and repairs. The group also asked for an environmental assessment and asked the Coast Guard to work closely with public agencies and interest groups.

Scarborough reiterated that Coast Guard officials do not believe that the Valdez is a pollution threat and stressed that Calhoun’s letter was written while “the ship’s tanks were still full of oil.”

“When the decision was made to take the ship to Portland, oil in the ship’s tanks had not been pumped out. . . . Since then, the oil has been pumped out and the tanks cleaned. I can honestly say that this will probably be one of the cleanest ships ever to dock here,” Scarborough said.

Nevertheless, Scarborough acknowledged that local officials are worried that opponents of the Valdez may attempt to “impede the vessel’s passage into port.” Earlier this week Scarborough said that he met with local law enforcement agencies to work out a plan to deal with protesters if the need arises.

“We aren’t anticipating a problem from anybody or any group,” he said. “And, we don’t see the Valdez as a major pollution threat, but nobody really likes the Exxon Valdez.”