Digital Extra

By PETER B. LORD
Journal-Bulletin Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Federal and state officials announced a plea bargain agreement yesterday that calls for the owners and the captain of the tug and barge that caused Rhode Island's worst oil spill to pay a record $9.5 million in compensation and fines.

The announcement, which surprised and generally pleased environmentalists and others concerned about the spill, followed extensive negotiations and was timed to coincide with the filing of state and federal felony negligence charges against the company, its president and the skipper of the tug.

Eklof Marine Corp. pledged to pay a $3.5 million fine to the federal government and another $3.5 million to the state.

Eklof also agreed to donate $1.5 million to The Nature Conservancy for buying wildlife conservation land near the spill site in South County. Finally it promised to spend $1 million upgrading the safety equipment in its fleet and to never again operate an unmanned, single-hulled barge in Rhode Island waters.

The penalties for the Jan. 19, 1996, spill are the largest ever in Rhode Island and the third-largest ever assessed for an oil spill from a vessel in the United States, officials said.

Officials said the plea agreement was designed to pump millions of dollars into local environmental enforcement efforts and preservation of land in South County to help compensate for damages caused by the spill.

It was also meant to send a strong message to the shipping industry and its London-based insurers that no longer can shippers skimp on safety without facing major penalties.

"This will be talked about in London tomorrow. It will be talked about around the world," said Dennis W. Nixon, a professor of maritime law at the University of Rhode Island.

Nixon predicted international insurance companies will direct shippers around the world to correct any safety problems similar to those cited in this case. And he said that's something that should make all Rhode Islanders proud.

"This was the first time a U.S. Attorney was committed to making such a serious investigation (following a spill)," Nixon said. "And that's what happens when a whole community is outraged. They hit Moonstone Beach. That was the worst place they could have spilled oil. So we kicked . . . "

THE ONLY down note yesterday came from Barry W. Hartman, a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer representing about 120 lobstermen and other business people suing Eklof for damages as a result of their fishing grounds being closed.

Hartman said restitution for victims such as his clients could have been included in the criminal settlement. They are seeking about $1 million.

"I'm disappointed they didn't use that power, as has been used in the past, because the current civil process is not providing a great deal of relief," Hartman said. "Eklof and its insurer are resisting claims at every turn."

Tom Connell, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Sheldon Whitehouse, responded that "the victims of this crime are the United States of America and the state of Rhode Island." The individuals, he said, are free to pursue their civil claims.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT yesterday afternoon culminated an investigation so low- key that few were aware much was going on.

Whitehouse said a team of federal and state investigators led by FBI agent John Truslow convened the day after the spill and spent the last 18 months on what amounted to a "paper chase, white-collar crime-type of investigation" to prove the company's negligence.

"This didn't happen because of sheer dumb luck. It resulted from a lengthy, exhaustive investigation," Whitehouse said. He was accompanied by Atty. Gen. Jeffrey B. Pine; John DeVillars, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and Andrew McLeod, director of the state's Department of Environmental Management.

The key to the state and federal case was a finding that Eklof's president, Leslie Wallin, and the skipper of the tug Scandia, Gregory R. Aitken, were negligent and their negligence led to the Scandia catching fire and running ashore with the barge North Cape, Whitehouse said.

A total of 828,000 gallons of home heating oil was spilled, forcing closure of hundreds of square miles to fishing and widespread loss of marinelife in the waters between South County and Block Island.

By world standards, the North Cape spill is barely noticed. But it ranks as the seventh largest spill in the United States since the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.

SOME OF THE negligence has been described in previous news reports. For instance, Aitken ignored several storm warnings when he set sail from Bayonne, N.J., to Rhode Island with four million gallons of home heating oil in tow.

The federal document outlining the charges filed yesterday reveals that the entire Eklof fleet remained in port because of the storm warnings - except for the Scandia and North Cape.

Whitehouse ran a videotape taken by a camera in the pilothouse of a 41- foot Coast Guard vessel that tried to rescue the Scandia. The camera, aimed toward the vessel's bow, showed oncoming waves so enormous the crew members could only swear in amazement.

One scene ended with a wave that towered over the bow and slammed into the pilothouse with a roar. Afterwards the camera was taken below where it showed a refrigerator ripped from a bulkhead and gear strewn about by the force of the seas.

As reported earlier, the windlass on the barge used to raise and lower its 6,000-pound anchor was removed for repairs - 15 days before the accident, according to the charges.

The North Cape was kept in service, with its anchor shackled to the deck. That was another indication of negligence, the charges said. Its steel anchor cable was also removed, and replaced with polypropylene rope, so it's questionable the anchor would have held even if the crew could have unfastened it from the deck and dropped it overboard, according to the charges.

Whitehouse said he believes the key reason Aitken continued sailing in the bad weather was his inability to properly anchor the barge.

The Journal-Bulletin previously reported that the year before the oil spill the Scandia's engine room was damaged by fire in New Haven, Conn.

The charges show that incident highlighted the Scandia's lack of proper equipment.

"After that fire, the tug captain on duty during the fire reported to Eklof that his crew was only able to put out the fire by borrowing firefighting suits and self-contained breathing apparatus from the New Haven Fire Department," the charges said. "The Scandia captain at that time recommended that the tug carry such equipment in the future. His recommendation was not followed."

The charges said it was company policy to have breathing apparatus on its vessels, but Wallin ordered the Scandia to sail without the gear or protective suits.

The Scandia lacked a remote controlled fire suppression device, which could have extinguished the fire, the charges said. What's more, the crew were never briefed on the location of fuel and ventilation shutoffs that could have helped control the fire.

Whitehouse said yesterday that the Scandia was so badly burned that probably no one will ever know for certain what actually started the fire.

But he said investigators found several possible causes. There were no records of routine maintenance on the vessel, oily gloves and rags were stored in a wooden cabinet that fell over in the engine room and contributed to the fire and there was an electrical short that had been reported months earlier and continued to shock crew members, but never repaired.

There were also watertight doors to the engine room, which are required by the Coast Guard to be closed during operation. But the Scandia generally operated with them open, the charges said.

WHITEHOUSE CHARGED Eklof and two subsidiary companies, Thor Towing Corp. and Odin Marine Corp., as well as Wallin and Aitken, with negligently discharging oil into navigable waters. He also charged the three companies with illegally discharging refuse matter, the oil, and with one count of killing migratory birds.

Pine filed a state charge against the three corporations of violating Rhode Island's Oil Pollution Control Act.

A special committee representing state and federal interests continues determining environmental damage and its conclusions could lead to Eklof being forced to pay for restoration efforts expected to cost many millions of dollars.

In addition, dozens of civil suits by fishermen, government agencies and business owners are still pending against Eklof.

The civil cases are not affected by yesterday's announcement, Whitehouse said.

Also pending is an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board into the cause of the spill. A spokesman said yesterday a final report is to be reviewed at an NTSB board meeting Nov. 25 and released sometime after that.

WHITEHOUSE SAID if Eklof and its employees hadn't agreed to plead guilty, he would have sought indictments and a broader array of charges.

Federal and state judges must approve the agreements announced yesterday and Whitehouse said there is a chance Aitken and Wallin could face some jail time, but it's a small chance.

Most of the federal fine, $3 million, will go to carry out wetlands conservation projects for the U.S. Department of Interior. A spokesman said an effort would be made to have at least some of that money spent in the Rhode Island area.

McLeod said Governor Almond has committed to spending some of the state fine proceeds on environmental restoration work in South County.

Eklof issued a statement pledging to take the steps necessary so such a spill doesn't happen again.

"The North Cape oil spill was a particularly tragic accident which had significant consequences for Rhode Island's coastal ecology," said Doug Eklof. "The confluence of events and circumstance which led to the accident can in no way diminish our profound regret for its occurrence. We accept responsiblity for the event and believe that the process which resulted in today's agreement has been fair and appropriate."

The American Waterways Association, a trade association of the tug and barge industry that has steadfastly defended the industry's safety record, did not return calls for comment on the plea agreement.