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10.7.97 00:38:10
Eklof Marine pleads guilty in oil spill
 The pleas by two executives and the skipper involved in the North Cape spill all but assure payment of record fines. Hundreds of civil complaints are still pending.
By PETER B. LORD
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer
PROVIDENCE
-- Three key employees of Eklof Marine Corp. entered guilty pleas yesterday to acts of negligence leading to last year's North Cape oil spill, affirming plea agreements that require payment of a record $9.5 million in compensation and penalties.
The legal proceedings, in several state and federal courtrooms, were tedious and restrained, a sharp contrast to the frenzy of response teams and political figures that surrounded what became Rhode Island's worst oil spill in January 1996.
Company president Douglas Eklof towered over his four lawyers as he appeared in state and federal courts and pleaded guilty on behalf of his three shipping companies.
Former Eklof president and current director Leslie Wallin, 50, and the man who was at the helm during the spill, skipper Gregory R. Aitken, 43, each brought two lawyers and appeared only in federal court, where they pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor each before quickly leaving. Neither spoke to Eklof.
The court actions all but confirmed that record fines will be paid as punishment for the record-setting oil spill. Eklof has pledged to split a $7-million fine between the federal and state governments, donate $1.5 million to The Nature Conservancy and spend $1 million on safety improvements for his fleet. There were two new developments:
Atty. Gen. Jeffrey B. Pine asked Superior Court Presiding Judge Joseph F. Rodgers Jr. to consider pleas from lobstermen who suffered losses when the spilled oil killed millions of lobsters off Moonstone Beach. The lobstermen were angry that restitution for them wasn't sought in the plea agreements announced two weeks ago.
State officials announced that the entire $3.5 million in state fines will go toward preventing and cleaning up oil spills. (When the pleas were first announced, it wasn't generally known that the recently-amended state oil pollution control act requires that any penalties go to an oil-spill fund. This is the first case to come under the oil spill law.)
The proceedings began yesterday morning in Superior Court where Eklof, on behalf of his companies, pleaded guilty to one felony count of illegally discharging oil in Rhode Island waters.
He sat alone in the courtroom while his lawyers addressed the judge. Eklof declined to talk to reporters. His spokesman Michael M. Doyle issued a brief statement saying Eklof felt profound regret and would work to address the impacts of the accident as quickly as possible.
Judge Rodgers said he would order a presentencing report prepared during the next six to eight weeks. Rodgers also said he would give victims of the spill a chance to be heard before the sentencing.
Afterward, Pine said that he had advised Rodgers that dozens of lobstermen are anxious to speak to the court and seek restitution for their losses. Pine said he didn't include their claims in the plea agreement because it would be difficult to resolve hundreds of victims' claims in the criminal process.
But Pine said the fishermen could make their pleas to Rodgers, and they should continue their civil cases. Yesterday's guilty plea by Eklof should only help those claims, Pine said.
Yesterday's court action was designed solely to punish Eklof, added Stephen Morin, the state's oil-spill response coordinator. Still pending are hundreds of individual civil claims; and state and federal officials are continuing a cooperative damage assessment process that some predict will require Eklof to spend millions of additional dollars to correct the environmental damages caused by the spill.
Morin said the North Cape spill prompted last year's amendments in the state's oil-pollution law, which apparently will lead to additional prevention efforts. The General Assembly imposed a 5-cent-a-barrel tax on all petroleum products imported to Rhode Island, which has already generated $1.2 million. That fund will be boosted by the $3.5-million state fine.
Soon, Morin said, the Almond administration will consider ways to spend the extra money on prevention programs and, possibly, cleanup equipment.
In the afternoon, Eklof, Wallin and Aitken appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lovegreen for arraignments and federal charges.
Then they all walked up another flight of stairs to the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi, where they entered guilty pleas.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ira Belkin accused Aitken of one misdemeanor count of discharging oil without a permit, saying he was negligent for sailing in bad weather with an inoperable anchor on the barge.
Belkin recommended a ``low-end'' sentence, but he also told the judge that he believes Aitken committed obstruction of justice by initially giving inaccurate and misleading information to the National Transportation Safety Board as it investigated the spill.
Belkin charged Wallin with discharging oil without a permit, saying that Wallin was in charge of maintaining the Eklof fleet when he ordered the North Cape to sail with an inoperable anchor. Belkin said it was also Wallin's fault that the tug Scandia had inadequate firefighting equipment.
Eklof was not personally charged, but he pleaded guilty on behalf of his companies to violating three federal statutes related to the spill. The companies, Belkin said, were responsible for all the negligent acts of their employees.
Justice Lisi scheduled sentencing for the three for Jan. 9.
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