Valdez Is Cleared to Go Nearer Possible Temporary Repair Site

The Coast Guard on Wednesday gave permission for the beleaguered Exxon Valdez to move within 7 miles of San Clemente Island, and Exxon Co. officials are testing those waters as a possible site for repairs to the ship’s hull, sources said.

The repairs, involving the removal of six massive steel plates jutting from the bottom of the tanker, might start today if weather and ocean conditions allow, they said.

Onshore, representatives of the state and Exxon Shipping Co. met for several hours to discuss conditions that Exxon must meet before the Valdez is allowed into state waters. The conditions were presented to Exxon on Tuesday.

Although sources close to the proceedings earlier said they thought Exxon might refuse some of the state’s demands, officials late Wednesday said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the negotiations.

The meetings were expected to continue today).

“We’re making some progress. There are no problems with the concept. An awful lot of the difficulties are in terms of the language” used in the state’s 12-page document to Exxon, said Anthony Summers, supervising state deputy attorney general. “A lot of the concern is that the agreement is not specific enough and leaves a lot of holes open.”

The state Lands Commission, attorney general, Department of Fish and Game and Regional Water Quality Control Board drew up the conditions that the company must meet before the ship enters state waters for repairs, either to remove the plates or to enter dry dock later in San Diego Bay.

The state has demanded, among other things, that the Valdez not discharge oil or pollutants for 24 hours before it enters state waters, that it provide cleanup and pollution prevention equipment throughout the repairs and that it post a $20-million line of credit in case the company breaches the agreement. Exxon’s liability in case of damage done to the state environment, however, would not necessarily be limited to that amount, the document noted.

Exxon officials declined to comment Wednesday, saying only that they were prepared to negotiate with the state. But Summers said the amount of money requested for the credit line was not discussed in that day’s meetings.

“In all honesty, we have not discussed amounts. We have discussed concepts and circumstances under which money would have to be paid to the state of California,” he said. “Nobody’s guaranteeing on either side that we’re going to get an agreement. We’re all going on the premise that these are the basic concepts we want to work with.”

If the state and Exxon agree on the conditions, an earlier lawsuit filed by state agencies that would bar Exxon from state waters would be suspended, officials said.

The tanker was towed from Alaska after hitting a reef and causing the nation’s worst oil spill along the Prince William Sound shoreline. The ship was scheduled to enter San Diego Bay July 11 for a $25-million, nine-month repair job at National Steel & Shipbuilding Co., which built the vessel in 1986.

But the discovery July 10 of five steel plates jutting from the ship’s hull, and the slicks and discharges believed to be coming from the Valdez have delayed its entry.

The plates, peeled back by turbulent seas during the tanker’s 2,200-mile transit from Alaska, prevent the ship from clearing the bottom of San Diego Bay. Some jut as much as 70 feet below the vessel.

The Valdez late last week moved near Pyramid Cove at San Clemente Island to take shelter from rough sea swells that peeled at least one other plate from the ship’s bottom and on Wednesday moved about 4 miles nearer to the island.

Exxon planned to send divers into the water Wednesday afternoon to determine whether the seas would be calm enough to allow workers to remove the plates, said Jan Cool, a spokeswoman for Exxon Shipping Co.

“We feel the sooner we can get the plates situation under control, the sooner we can get the ship into the harbor,” Cool said. “Obviously everybody wants to bring this to a rapid conclusion. But we are not going to endanger anyone’s health or safety. This has never been done in open-water conditions.”

The divers, from the Portland, Ore.-based Fred Devine Diving & Salvage Co., did similar repairs to the vessel in Alaska and are used to working in adverse conditions, Nancy Douglas, a spokeswoman for salvage company, said. It was divers from the company who discovered the condition of the plates July 10, during a final inspection of the tankers in waters near San Diego.

“This crew has hands-on experience with working with that vessel,” Douglas said. “Our divers are very capable and are highly experienced. If anyone can do the job right, they will.

“It’s been very safe so far,” she said. “We haven’t had any problems at all.”

It will take the divers five to seven days to cut the steel plates from the vessel, most likely bit by bit. Steel cables will be attached to the pieces so that they won’t fall to the ocean floor. A Devine company salvage vessel will then haul the pieces of steel to a barge.

Earlier, Pyramid Cove had been the preferred site for removal of the plates because its waters are calm and protected. But state agencies, which sought legal action last week and now are pressing Exxon to agree to its demands, have kept the Valdez out of San Clemente Island’s state waters, fearing that discharges believed to be coming from the Valdez could harm the abundant marine life there.

The state’s jurisdiction extends 3 miles from the shore. Federal jurisdiction generally extends 12 miles from the shore, according to the Coast Guard.

The state has stipulated that any harmful discharge from the Valdez that enters state waters, even if it floated in from outside the 3-mile zone, could subject Exxon to penalties. But officials said Wednesday that they favor removing the plates in the open sea.

“If they can take care of the plates without going into state waters, that would be very advantageous to our standpoint,” Summers said. “If they can accomplish that, that would remove one of the big problems” in getting the ship into dock.

No discharge of the bluish substance that bubbled from the Valdez last week has been seen in at least 70 hours. Earlier, the discharges had been sporadic and minute and had dissipated quickly, said Coast Guard Cmdr. Don Montoro. Also, westerly winds in the area could help prevent any materials discharged from blowing toward the coast, he said.

Montoro said the ship won’t come closer than 7 1/2 miles from San Clemente Island, and it was expected to move farther offshore late Monday after the divers had finished their survey of the conditions, so the ship’s tanks could be prepared for the repairs. The dangling steel plates will be removed with underwater metal-cutting torches.

“Obviously, the closer you get (to state waters), the more risk is involved,” said Montoro. “Not that we expect any problems, but we’re doing everything we can to minimize” the risk.

The Coast Guard instructed Exxon to dispatch boats with pollution prevention and cleanup equipment to the vessel, and some of the boats were on the way, Montoro said. He also stipulated that the vessel and the assisting boats undergo an emergency-procedures drill before the repairs are begun. The drill was scheduled for this morning.

If the removal is begun in open seas, the rougher waters could limit the operation and force the Valdez into state waters to complete the work, Exxon officials acknowledged. Either way, Exxon still will face tough state scrutiny when it enters San Diego Bay.

“In order to get into dry dock, we still have to meet the state’s demands,” Cool said. “Clearly, we don’t want to leave a tanker with a bunch of holes in it off the coast of California indefinitely. We’re just trying to do something constructive.”

Samples from the ship’s tanks taken early this week are still being analyzed in Sorrento Valley and Colorado labs, and the results are expected within several days, the Coast Guard said. The tests are expected to show exactly what has been discharging from the vessel and how harmful it may be. Earlier tests had revealed that the discharge contained equal parts of weathered crude oil and marine life.

The results also will determine whether the Valdez is the source of several sheens and slicks discovered near the ship, officials said.

No discharge was seen coming from the ship Wednesday, but another sheen, about 75 yards wide by 1 1/2 miles long, was sighted about 13 miles southeast of the tanker, in a normal shipping lane, the Coast Guard reported. Samples of that sheen and others sighted in the same area were taken by the Coast Guard and are being analyzed in the agency’s Connecticut lab.