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Prince William Sound threatens Aleutian shores
Marine Pollution Bulletin
within a specified area, but would also require additional information for the discharge permits, increased sediment monitoring in the discharge area and management of the sediment impact zone; and Sediment Cleanup--the regulation establishes a decision-making process to identify and rank contaminated sediment sites for cleanup actions. It also establishes sediment cleanup standards for actions conducted under related legislation. Further information on these sediment management standards is available from Washington State Department of Ecology, Mail Stop PV-11, Olympia, Washington, US 98504-8711 (contact for copies of document: Barb Patrick, Tel: (206) 459-6013). A N D R E W GILLA M
$1 billion Exxon Settlement Collapse Exxon Corporation announced on 2 May 1991 they were withdrawing from the pending settlement provisionally agreed on 13th March with the State of Alaska and the US Government (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 22, 167). The settlement looked shaky for some time and was dealt a hammer blow when US District Judge Russell Holland rejected Exxon's criminal plea bargain on 24 April. The company had agreed to pay S100 million and would plead guilty to violating three separate acts; the" US Clean Water Act, Refuse Code and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It had also agreed to pay $900 million in civil damages during the next 10 years. Judge Holland rejected the S100 million criminal fine on the grounds that it was not adequate considering the magnitude of the spill. He stated several factors influencing his decision, including "the nature and circumstances of the offence; the history and characteristics of the defendant; the seriousness of the offence and whether the penalties to be imposed adequately deter others from similar conduct.. '.' continuing to say, "in short, I am to consider the size of the defendant organization". The agreement was finally doomed on 2 May when the Alaska House of Representatives voted 23 to 17 to reject the proposed $1 billion settlement despite strong support for the agreement from Alaska's Governor, Walter Hickel and Attorney-General, Charles Cole. Hickel is reported to be very disappointed with the House's decision and predicted that the citizens of Alaska will be outraged at the loss of money that would have been used to reimburse Alaska for its expenses during the spill and the loss of additional funds that would have been available to restore damaged natural resources. The President of the Alaska Senate, Dick Eliason, is also reported as regretting the lost opportunity to receive a substantial monetary settlement while avoiding a protracted legal battle. Apparently, Alaska will now have to allocate some $20 million to conduct the case against Exxon and an additional $500 000 per month to continue economic damage assessment studies in support of the case. 320
New Oil Spill Laws for Texas Following in the wake of two major oil spill incidents last year, Texas administrators have passed strict new oil spill legislation. The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg exploded and caught fire 90 km east of Galveston last June spilling 4.6 million gallons of crude oil into the sea. A few weeks later a Greek tanker collided with three barges under tow in Galveston Bay when just over half a million gallons of heavy oil leaked out. In both cases the response to the spills had been inadequate as the State authorities were accused of being unprepared to deal with such emergencies. The new legislation, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, is to have equipment, personnel and training in place in readiness for any future emergencies. The Act will establish five regional response centres along the Texas coastline together with spill fighting equipment and staff to audit the contingency plans of private companies.
Prince William Sound Threatens Aleutian Shores Unalaska Island, one of the chain of Aleutian Islands bordering the Bering Sea, was threatened with oil pollution when a fish processing vessel caught fire in Dutch Harbour on 22 April. The vessel, Prince William Sound, transports fish from fishing grounds to coastal processing plants and was carrying 135 000 gallons of diesel fuel when the incident occurred. The fire started when sparks from a welding torch ignited some fibre packing. The fire quickly got out of control and the vessel was towed 24 km out to sea, when still burning it began to drift shorewards. Although the fuel tanks remained intact, there was some spillage of diesel, forming a sheen behind the vessel. The vessel's owners, Trident Seafoods are contracted with Martech Industries to have oil-spill cleanup equipment ready should the situatiQn worsen. Meanwhile, bad weather prevented the use of an absorbent boom to collect the sheen oil. Latest reports indicate that the Prince William Sound has been towed back to Unalaska Island and will be moored in a bay with 'low ecological sensitivity'. It is planned to then offload the remaining fuel oil.
Round-the-World News USSR Two Taiwanese fishing vessels were detained by Soviet authorities in May after they had been spotted and reported by US Coast Guard North Pacific air surveillance. The vessels, both drift net squid ships, were caught allegedly fishing for Soviet and possibly American salmon and were arrested by Soviet border guard vessels.
Yemen The Bahamas-flag tanker Mendana Spirit was released
within a specified area, but would also require additional information for the discharge permits, increased sediment monitoring in the discharge area and management of the sediment impact zone; and Sediment Cleanup--the regulation establishes a decision-making process to identify and rank contaminated sediment sites for cleanup actions. It also establishes sediment cleanup standards for actions conducted under related legislation. Further information on these sediment management standards is available from Washington State Department of Ecology, Mail Stop PV-11, Olympia, Washington, US 98504-8711 (contact for copies of document: Barb Patrick, Tel: (206) 459-6013). A N D R E W GILLA M
$1 billion Exxon Settlement Collapse Exxon Corporation announced on 2 May 1991 they were withdrawing from the pending settlement provisionally agreed on 13th March with the State of Alaska and the US Government (see Mar. Pollut. Bull. 22, 167). The settlement looked shaky for some time and was dealt a hammer blow when US District Judge Russell Holland rejected Exxon's criminal plea bargain on 24 April. The company had agreed to pay S100 million and would plead guilty to violating three separate acts; the" US Clean Water Act, Refuse Code and Migratory Bird Treaty Act. It had also agreed to pay $900 million in civil damages during the next 10 years. Judge Holland rejected the S100 million criminal fine on the grounds that it was not adequate considering the magnitude of the spill. He stated several factors influencing his decision, including "the nature and circumstances of the offence; the history and characteristics of the defendant; the seriousness of the offence and whether the penalties to be imposed adequately deter others from similar conduct.. '.' continuing to say, "in short, I am to consider the size of the defendant organization". The agreement was finally doomed on 2 May when the Alaska House of Representatives voted 23 to 17 to reject the proposed $1 billion settlement despite strong support for the agreement from Alaska's Governor, Walter Hickel and Attorney-General, Charles Cole. Hickel is reported to be very disappointed with the House's decision and predicted that the citizens of Alaska will be outraged at the loss of money that would have been used to reimburse Alaska for its expenses during the spill and the loss of additional funds that would have been available to restore damaged natural resources. The President of the Alaska Senate, Dick Eliason, is also reported as regretting the lost opportunity to receive a substantial monetary settlement while avoiding a protracted legal battle. Apparently, Alaska will now have to allocate some $20 million to conduct the case against Exxon and an additional $500 000 per month to continue economic damage assessment studies in support of the case. 320
New Oil Spill Laws for Texas Following in the wake of two major oil spill incidents last year, Texas administrators have passed strict new oil spill legislation. The Norwegian tanker Mega Borg exploded and caught fire 90 km east of Galveston last June spilling 4.6 million gallons of crude oil into the sea. A few weeks later a Greek tanker collided with three barges under tow in Galveston Bay when just over half a million gallons of heavy oil leaked out. In both cases the response to the spills had been inadequate as the State authorities were accused of being unprepared to deal with such emergencies. The new legislation, the Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act, is to have equipment, personnel and training in place in readiness for any future emergencies. The Act will establish five regional response centres along the Texas coastline together with spill fighting equipment and staff to audit the contingency plans of private companies.
Prince William Sound Threatens Aleutian Shores Unalaska Island, one of the chain of Aleutian Islands bordering the Bering Sea, was threatened with oil pollution when a fish processing vessel caught fire in Dutch Harbour on 22 April. The vessel, Prince William Sound, transports fish from fishing grounds to coastal processing plants and was carrying 135 000 gallons of diesel fuel when the incident occurred. The fire started when sparks from a welding torch ignited some fibre packing. The fire quickly got out of control and the vessel was towed 24 km out to sea, when still burning it began to drift shorewards. Although the fuel tanks remained intact, there was some spillage of diesel, forming a sheen behind the vessel. The vessel's owners, Trident Seafoods are contracted with Martech Industries to have oil-spill cleanup equipment ready should the situatiQn worsen. Meanwhile, bad weather prevented the use of an absorbent boom to collect the sheen oil. Latest reports indicate that the Prince William Sound has been towed back to Unalaska Island and will be moored in a bay with 'low ecological sensitivity'. It is planned to then offload the remaining fuel oil.
Round-the-World News USSR Two Taiwanese fishing vessels were detained by Soviet authorities in May after they had been spotted and reported by US Coast Guard North Pacific air surveillance. The vessels, both drift net squid ships, were caught allegedly fishing for Soviet and possibly American salmon and were arrested by Soviet border guard vessels.
Yemen The Bahamas-flag tanker Mendana Spirit was released