The Nation - News from May 8, 1989

Alaska’s top environmental official testified that a “reluctant and myopic” Exxon stalled efforts to clean up the nation’s largest oil spill by largely ignoring damage outside the immediate spill zone. Dennis Kelso, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, told a subcommittee of the House Interior Committee that the spill has caused “550 miles of oil, filthy foam and tar balls.” He said that on the East Coast, it would be the equivalent of oil washing up on beaches from Boston south to the mouth of Chesapeake Bay and, possibly, to the Potomac River. The panel planned two days of hearings in Valdez, Alaska, with testimony scheduled from state, federal and Exxon officials.