Oil Spill Suit Mired in Fight Over Who Pays for Damages : Environment: Four companies continue stalemate over blame in tanker accident off Huntington Beach. Three years later, no resolution is in sight.

Three years after the American Trader tanker ran aground off the beach, the four companies involved in the oil spill are no closer to settling a multimillion-dollar lawsuit filed by government prosecutors.

In January, 1991, when the suit was filed, the oil and shipping companies, as well as the state attorney general, seemed eager to negotiate and avoid a long, messy trial. But today, the third anniversary of the oil spill, no resolution is in sight and no settlement offers have been made by any of the defendants.

The four companies are quarreling over who gets the blame for the accident and who is liable to pay the most in damages and fines. Complicating the matter, one defendant, Golden West Refining, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year.

Unless the stalemate is broken, the case seems destined for a jury or judge.

“I think what’s happened is the four defendants are busy trying to allocate responsibility among themselves,” said state Deputy Atty. Gen. Sylvia Hale, who remains confident that a settlement will be reached. “It becomes a round robin, people pointing fingers at each other.”

The oil spill was the largest in Southern California in more than 20 years.

The American Trader ran over its anchor as it tried to moor at a tanker terminal, spilling almost 400,000 gallons of Alaskan crude that fouled 15 miles of beaches and killed at least 1,000 birds. A Coast Guard investigation revealed that ocean depth measurements at the terminal, which are at least a decade old, were off by 13 feet, leaving the tanker with too little clearance.

In the lawsuit, the state of California, the cities of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, and Orange County are seeking an unspecified amount in fines, recouped losses and punitive damages, all vaguely estimated “in the millions.”

Named as defendants are BP America, which owned the oil and chartered the tanker; Golden West Refining, a Santa Fe Springs oil company that operates the terminal; Brandenburger Marine, which supplied the mooring master that guided the ship, and American Trading Transportation, the tanker’s owner and operator.

At least one attorney suggests that it has dragged on too long, and it might have been wise for the attorney general to force a settlement much sooner, when the public was outraged and the companies were worried about publicity.

“I think the whole thing has been headed to a big boondoggle,” said the attorney, who did not want to be identified. “I don’t see any settlement in sight.”

Financially strapped Huntington Beach has spent about $150,000 to hire attorneys for the suit, and Monday, the City Council agreed to pay legal expenses of $100,000 per year--with no end in sight.

City Atty. Gail Hutton said Huntington Beach at first expected a $50,000 limit on attorneys’ fees but that amount has “proven unrealistic in light of the prolonged and extreme complexity of the multi-party litigation,” according to a memo to the council.

The case has dragged on longer than litigation in the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, the largest and most destructive oil spill in U.S. history. Exxon agreed to pay $1 billion to settle government suits in 1991, less than three years after the spill, which was 30 times larger than the one in Huntington Beach.

But Hale said the amount of time that has passed is not unusual. Major spill cases typically last for several years when so many parties are involved. Taking witnesses’ depositions, which began two months ago, is expected to continue through the end of this year, Hale said.

Chuck Webster, crisis manager for BP, also known as British Petroleum, said his company’s objective is to settle the case without a trial. But he declined to comment on details.

“It is our aim to resolve the issues amicably with all the parties and we hope this can be completed sooner rather than later,” Webster said.

Erich Wise, an attorney for Golden West Refining, said settlement talks are continuing but “everybody’s waiting to see how the facts proceed” before making offers.

In a 1990 report, the Coast Guard placed the blame for the accident on Golden West Refining and Brandenburger Marine for failing to conduct depth surveys and ensure that the water level at the terminal was deep enough for large tankers. But state law also holds shippers and companies that own oil liable for paying damages and fines for spills.

Golden West says it followed state and federal regulations and is not to blame. After the accident, the Coast Guard enacted new rules that require annual depth surveys and other precautions at tanker terminals.

In the suit, the state is seeking pollution fines and reimbursement for harm to marine life and waterfowl, loss of tourism and tax dollars, temporary loss of use of beaches and harbors, and emergency response costs borne by government agencies. They also hope to recoup legal fees.

The fines for violating state pollution laws could total millions of dollars. The maximum penalty under California’s water code, the major law that prohibits discharge of oil into state waters, is $25 per gallon spilled, or $10 million for the American Trader accident.

Wise, who represents Golden West Refining, said the main dispute between the state and defendants “is over the actual value of the damage to the environment.”

BP spent $35 million removing foamy oil and tar balls in a five-week cleanup of beaches. It was considered one of the most successful cleanups, mainly because calm seas helped crews collect much of the oil and spared sensitive wetlands and tide pools.

The spill’s ecological impact is largely unknown because most of the scientific research remains confidential because of the litigation. Only fragments of the data have been revealed.

In 1991, a UC Davis researcher hired by federal officials reported that one-third of the oil-soaked brown pelicans that had been cleansed and returned to the wild after the spill apparently died, while the rest refused to breed that year.

Another study, by the state Fish and Game Department, showed that grunion were unable to spawn in 1990 along beaches that were deemed to be clean. About 39% of grunion eggs at Bolsa Chica State Beach died.

State officials said they plan to use any money gleaned from the suit to compensate Orange County residents for the loss of natural resources. Possible uses include buying part of the Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach, reseeding kelp beds and stocking abalone.

“There are so many worthwhile environmental areas where we could use the money,” said Linda Moulton-Patterson, who serves on the Huntington Beach City Council and the state Coastal Commission. “But these things take time. The legal wheels turn slowly.”