Exxon Valdez Tied to Two Slicks Off San Diego Coast

Coast Guard officials said Tuesday that the Exxon Valdez most likely is the source of a 10-mile oil slick off the San Diego coast and is definitely the source of a smaller sheen trailing behind the tanker.

Two state officials called on the Coast Guard to deny the ship entry into California waters until the State Lands Commission is satisfied the vessel does not pose an environmental risk.

“We fear that if proper precautions are not taken, the vessel could cause severe environmental harm and imperil portions of the Southern California coastline,” Lt. Gov. Leo T. McCarthy and State Controller Gray Davis said in a letter to Adm. Paul Yost Jr., Coast Guard commandant. McCarthy is chairman of the State Lands Commission and Davis is a member.

The ship--which spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound when it ran aground March 24--had been scheduled to enter San Diego harbor Tuesday for repairs at the National Steel & Shipbuilding yard. But the Coast Guard kept the ship offshore because of the two lines of oil, as well as huge steel plates jutting down from the crippled tanker’s hull that make it impossible to clear the harbor bottom.

Tests conducted late Monday night did not confirm whether the tanker directly caused the oil slick, at one point as much as 18 miles long and 200 yards wide, which is sitting about 40 miles off Point Loma and slowly moving southwest.

But Coast Guard authorities said they are assuming the Valdez was responsible.

“We haven’t got a positive fingerprint. But they (Exxon officials) were wrong. The ship is not squeaky clean,” said Cmdr. Frank Scarborough at a press conference early Tuesday.

Exxon officials confirmed that the Valdez was leaking what appeared to be oil and trailing a sheen three miles long and 25 yards wide but said they were not certain the bigger slick had been caused by the tanker.

The Valdez arrived off San Diego late Sunday after leaving Alaska on June 23 for the 2,200-mile voyage. Two tugs towed the ship, and another tug and salvage boat accompanied it during the transit.

To stem the leak, apparently caused when turbulent ocean waves loosened residual oil within the ship’s tanks, Exxon engineers on Tuesday pumped seawater into the hull to elevate any remaining oil above the water line.

The method seemed to be working and by late afternoon the sheen trailing the ship seemed to be lessening, Coast Guard officials said.