Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 28, 1991 TAG: 9102280491
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JUNEAU, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium
Attorney General Charles Cole said Wednesday the settlement would be "in the ballpark" of $1.2 billion to restore natural resources in Prince William Sound and to pay for further scientific studies and cleanup.
Nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled when the tanker ran aground in March 1989. The nation's largest oil spill soiled 1,200 miles of coastline and killed thousands of birds, mammals and fish.
Cole said state, federal and Exxon officials agreed on the amount and terms, but he declined to discuss specifics pending a final settlement. He said the money would be paid over several years.
Cole, who planned to return to Washington on Monday to meet with principals in the talks, said a final settlement should be signed within a month.
The agreement would settle the state's civil lawsuit and potential civil claims by the federal government. Cole declined to say if it would address the federal criminal case against Exxon.
The criminal case, which charges Exxon with violating federal pollution laws, is scheduled to go to trial in Anchorage April 10.
Cole said the plan included a provision for the state to reopen its case if spill damages undocumented today are discovered in the future.
Exxon spokesman Bill Smith, at the company's headquarters in Irving, Texas, wouldn't comment on the tentative settlement.
Gov. Walter J. Hickel had wanted some money to create a marine park in the sound, but Cole said defining such a park has proven difficult and noted that areas outside the sound were damaged by the oil and deserved attention.
The settlement probably will be referred to the Alaska Legislature for final approval, but lawmakers would be unable to change the terms, Cole said.
House Majority Leader Max Gruenberg, a Democrat, said lawmakers had many questions, including how the money would be divided and its effect on private lawsuits, of which there are more than 150.
Cole said the settlement fund would be managed by a board of state and federal resource officials. It would not include Exxon representatives as Hickel had suggested it might, Cole said.
Still to be negotiated is whether the state's economic and scientific studies of the spill would be made public, Cole said. He said he will not agree to release the information until the many private plaintiffs suing Exxon promise not to use any of the information against the state.
by CNB