State Officials Knew Valdez Contained Oil Before It Left Alaska

State Department of Fish and Game officials knew last month that tanks in the Exxon Valdez contained oil residue but expected that most of the substance would be cleansed from the tanker in international waters before the ship entered San Diego Bay, according to a letter from the agency.

The letter, dated June 30 and addressed to Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), noted that, although oil concentrations in the ship’s tanks were below federal levels for discharges in the ocean, they exceeded those permitted by the state.

But state officials said Thursday that, although they expected “traces” of oily discharge from the tanker as it arrived offshore San Diego, the 18-mile slick and several other discharges believed to have come from the Valdez came as a surprise.

A San Diego environmentalist said Thursday that the letter was proof that Exxon and government officials “lied” about the absence of petroleum in the infamous tanker before it began its journey to San Diego for repairs.

“I think it is a clear acknowledgement that there was oil and oil residue in the vessel,” said Diane Takvorian, executive director of the nonprofit Environmental Health Coalition.

“The assurances that we received from the Coast Guard and the Exxon officials were that this (the ship) was squeaky clean,” she said. “Obviously, they lied.”

Thought it Was ‘Very Clean’

Mike Herlache, a patrol captain with the Department of Fish and Game’s oil pollution unit, said Thursday that the agency relied on reports from the U. S. Coast Guard and Exxon in satisfying itself that the Valdez was “very clean” before leaving Alaska waters.

Herlache said the reports showed there was oil residue left in the ship. “I think that you’re being real naive to think that there’s not going to be any oil residues in a tanker,” he said.

State officials remain uncertain whether the substance that has leaked from the Valdez since Monday contains oil.

The Coast Guard and state fish and game “understood there was going to be traces,” said Curt Taucher, a spokesman for the fish and game department. “But not anywhere near what it has been.”

The fish and game department determined that the concentration of oil did not exceed the federal limit, which is generally regarded as any amount that won’t leave a sheen in the water.

The federal level for acceptable oil discharge into the ocean is 12 parts of oil per million parts of water, while the state level is a more stringent 1.5 p.p.m., officials said.

“The petroleum hydrocarbon levels are above what we consider permissible for a continuing discharge if this water was to be the subject of a Regional Water Quality Control Board discharge permit,” said the June 30 letter, signed by Fish and Game Director Pete Bontadelli.

“It is anticipated that the interchange of sea water in international waters during the vessel’s journey to San Diego will lower the petroleum hydrocarbon levels,” Bontadelli wrote.

Based on reports from Exxon, state officials knew that the oil present in the Valdez before it left port in Alaska exceeded the state standard.

“We’re admitting that we know, that we accepted the report that was given to us by Exxon and certified by the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and we expected some cleaning to go on on the way down, yes,” Herlache said.

Herlache added that the oil residue referred to in the letter from the fish and game department is not considered to be the source of Monday’s 18-mile slick about 30 miles off the coast of San Diego.

A Waxy Crust

That source, he said, is suspected to be a waxy crust that had built up on the inside of the ballast tanks, Herlache said.

The presence of the crust was noted in a May 24 inspection report written by the Coast Guard and included in a June 5 letter sent to Exxon. The report said an “oily residue had built up” in three of the tanks aboard the Valdez.

“All three tanks were cleaned using booming techniques previously used and examined . . . and found clear of free oil with a light waxy residue remaining that cannot be removed without scraping or chemical cleaning,” the Coast Guard report said.

Peace said Thursday that disclosure of the oily residue in the tanker came as a surprise to him and to his staff, which had been trying for weeks to interest state officials in an offer from Exxon to fly to Alaska and inspect the ship before it took off for San Diego.

“We were told throughout the entire process that the ship was crystal clean by everybody--state officials, Exxon officials, Nassco officials,” Peace said. “They knew it was there but we did not.”

Peace said he is not upset with the fish and game department, and he credited the state agency with “aggressive” action because it spotted the 18-mile slick off San Diego when it flew over the Valdez with a patrol plane.

Peace criticized the state Water Resources Control Board because it declined an invitation to inspect the Valdez last month before it left Alaska. Peace said that Ladin H. Delaney, executive officer with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, wanted to make the trip but was overruled by his superiors at the state level.

Sandra Salazar, a state water resources board spokeswoman, confirmed that James Bennett, the agency’s chief executive director, on June 15 overruled his San Diego subordinate’s decision to inspect the Valdez.

Salazar said the state turned down the offer because Exxon wanted it to confirm the seaworthiness of the vessel, which the agency could not do. “We’ve never done an inspection of that nature,” Salazar said.

Peace, however, said the state agency could have hired an expert to inspect the ship and the water quality.

Its decision to rely on written reports from the Coast Guard and Exxon constituted a “typically stupid, bureaucratic decision,” he said.

“When you do a job, you’ve got to use your own eyes, your own background, you have to have independent first-hand knowledge of what is happening,” Peace said. “State officials put themselves in a position of having to interpret other people’s first-hand observations.”

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Ted Lempert’s office said Thursday that he will convene a special legislative committee hearing in the San Diego County Administration Building on July 21 to discuss the Valdez incident. Lempert (D-San Mateo) is chairman of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Oil Spill Prevention and Response Preparedness.

Ralph Frammolino reported from Sacramento. Lori Grange reported from San Diego.