Local Agency Rebuffed on Valdez : Had Know-How to Check Craft in Alaska, Official Insists

The executive director of the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board said Friday that his staff was qualified to determine whether the Exxon Valdez was clean enough to enter California waters before it ever left Alaska.

But Ladin H. Delaney declined to criticize a decision by his superiors at the state’s Water Resources Control Board to overrule his request to inspect the tanker at Exxon’s expense.

‘Not Going to Make Judgment’

“I’m not going to make a judgment on anyone else’s decisions,” said Delaney. “The administration makes the decision. I just follow them.”

At Delaney’s request, Exxon offered to pay for a regional board staff member to travel to Alaska to inspect the tanker before it began its journey last month for repairs at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. terminal in San Diego Bay.

The invitation was intended to assure San Diego officials that the vessel was clean, as stated in an analysis performed for the company and certified by the U. S. Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Delaney said he was willing to take Exxon up on its invitation, and he made plans to send David Barker from his San Diego staff to Alaska to inspect the vessel. But James Bennett, the state agency’s chief executive director, overruled the request June 15.

A state water board spokeswoman said Friday that Bennett disallowed the trip because he believed the environmental agency lacked the expertise to carry out the inspection.

“We don’t have the expertise to inspect the vessel, and the fact was that there were other entities--the Coast Guard, NOAA--who do have the expertise,” said Sandra Salazar, the spokeswoman.

“There is a real question whether we could have done anything on water quality based on the water temperatures between Alaska and the San Diego Bay,” said Salazar. “What you think you have in Alaska may or may not hold” in San Diego.

As a result, the state relied on the Exxon report, as verified by the Coast Guard, and approved entry into California waters by the Valdez.

All plans were halted, however, when the state Department of Fish and Game spotted an 18-mile slick near the ill-fated tanker about 30 miles off the coast. The state attorney general’s office filed suit Friday in San Diego Superior Court to prevent the ship from moving before state officials can determine what to do about the problem.

Support for Staff

Delaney said Friday that his staff had the expertise to check out the boat before it ever left Alaska.

“I would not have volunteered, not have asked to go up there, if I did not think we could have done an adequate job of looking at it,” Delaney said.

“What kind of expertise do you need to make the observation of whether the walls of the tanks are clean, that the water is clean and there is nothing in the bottom of the hold?”

Delaney said he would have asked Exxon to empty all of its tanks so that his staff member could photograph the walls. And, if there had been evidence of an oily residue, he said, he would have made a “strong suggestion” that Exxon clean the ship again.

“There were to be no emanations (of oil) from that vessel before it came into the harbor,” Delaney said. “I told them that I was going to be very, very tough on that.”

Delaney also said that he was the one who insisted that Exxon pay for the trip, an offer that an attorney from the state water board determined could constitute a “gift” from the company and represent a conflict of interest.

“I personally feel that Exxon should pay for it,” he said. “I don’t think the state of California should pay for it.

“It was their (Exxon’s) problem. I did more than ask. I demanded that they pay for it. I don’t think it was out of line.”