The Nation - News from Oct. 8, 1989
A Coast Guard administrative law judge in Seattle stripped for nine months the license of the officer who was on the bridge when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Alaska, causing the nation’s worst oil spill. Judge Roscoe Wilkes bypassed the standard three- to six-month sentence for Gregory Cousins, and said the massive oil spill called for more severe punishment. Meanwhile, prosecutors and defense attorneys said Exxon Valdez captain Joseph Hazelwood will be tried outside Valdez over his role in the spill because of the publicity and local concern there. A new location for the trial, set for January, has not yet been decided.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
