State Sues to Keep Tanker Valdez at Least 3 Miles Out

The state attorney general’s office late Friday filed suit against Exxon Co., asking that the beleaguered tanker Exxon Valdez be prevented from entering California waters for repairs until state agencies are satisfied it won’t do any harm.

The Valdez, holding a position about 50 miles off the coast, continued on Friday to “burp” small discharges of a blue-brown substance from its stern side, but the discharges were intermittent and dissipated quickly, Coast Guard officials reported.

Late Friday the Coast Guard said tests showed both oil content and organic matter in samples taken from a Wednesday discharge from the tanker. Exxon officials maintain that the substance contains natural organisms, or algae, and has no oil content.

The complaint in San Diego Superior Court seeks an injunction to temporarily block the tanker’s expected passage into state waters, where the ship must find a protected area to remove five huge steel plates jutting downward from its hull.

“Today we’re taking action to protect California’s coastline from Exxon’s negligence and broken promises. As trustees for California’s coastal waters and beaches, we cannot afford to take any chances with Exxon or the Valdez,” said Gray Davis, state controller and a member of the State Lands Commission.

That commission joined Atty Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and the Regional Water Quality Control Board in San Diego in requesting the injunction. The latter agency handles pollution concerns in San Diego Bay.

Exxon Shipping Co. officials, informed of the state’s legal action late Thursday, said it was too early to offer an official response. But a spokeswoman said President Frank Iarossi on Thursday had assured state officials that the ship would abide by earlier demands and “stay put” until given permission to enter state waters, which extend three miles offshore.

“Yesterday Mr. Iarossi reaffirmed our commitment that we would not bring it into state waters as long as the state agencies and the Coast Guard were not comfortable and had any concerns,” said Exxon Shipping spokeswoman Jan Cool. “I don’t know why the state feels like they need to file an injunction.”

The Valdez, which was towed from Alaska after hitting a reef March 24 and dumping 11 million gallons of oil in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, was scheduled Tuesday to enter San Diego Bay for a $25-million, nine-month repair job at the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. yard, where the vessel was built in 1986.

But the discovery Monday of the jutting steel plates, peeled back during the 2,200-mile trip from Alaska, and mysterious slicks and discharges believed to be coming from the Valdez, have delayed its entry.

The tanker now is languishing about 52 miles west of Point Loma. Officials say the discharge must be stopped before the ship can be taken to shallower, calmer waters to remove the plates, which would prevent the Valdez from clearing the harbor bottom.