Exxon Warned About Oil Cleanup

WASHINGTON —  Exxon will have to finish the cleanup of the Valdez tanker oil spill in Alaska next spring or pay the government to do the job, EPA Administrator William K. Reilly said Sunday.

“The job isn’t done,” Reilly said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The company has announced that it is pulling out thousands of cleanup workers this week because of the limited daylight and rough weather of Alaska’s early winter.

In the same interview, Reilly also defended the Administration’s plan to require cleaner-burning alternatives to gasoline in the worst-polluted cities, saying “there is no other way” to curb smog.

On the oil spill issue, Reilly said: “There’s a lot still to do. Exxon is going to have to go back in the spring, as they intend to do, and survey what the problems are and if there’s remaining work to do, to do it.”

Exxon disagrees with state and federal agencies over the adequacy of the company’s cleanup efforts since the Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound on March 24, spilling nearly 11 million gallons of crude.

The company claims it has treated more than 1,000 miles of shoreline and is nearly done. State authorities say the company is overstating its work.

Exxon plans to return if the Coast Guard makes what the company considers a reasonable decision that more cleanup is necessary.

Reilly said, however, that Exxon has no choice but to abide by the government’s assessment.

If the government determines more cleanup is necessary but Exxon refuses to go along, the EPA chief said, the government will continue the cleaning and “bill Exxon for the cost.”