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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 21, 1996
96-148
CONTACT:
Eric Heinitz (360) 407-6375
Ron Langley (206) 649-7009
CHINESE SHIPPER TO PAY $300,000 FOR COLUMBIA RIVER OIL SPILL
LACEY, WA -- The Chinese shipping firm Shanghai Hai Xing Shipping, Ltd. has agreed to pay the State of Washington $300,000 for a January 1994 oil spill into the Columbia River by their vessel An Ping 6.
The firm will pay 90 percent of the penalty levied against it by the Washington Department of Ecology, in addition to paying environmental damages and the agency's costs to respond to the spill. The settlement is the largest ever received by Ecology for an oil spill. It comes after the shipping firm lost an appeal to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) in 1995. The Board upheld the penalty levied by Ecology for violation of the state's oil spill prevention and response regulations. The company appealed the PCHB ruling to Thurston County Superior Court, but dropped the appeal in favor of reaching a settlement.
Ecology Director Mary Riveland said her agency had a strong case and was prepared to go to court. "When a spill occurs in our state, we expect the responsible party to cooperate with officials to get sensitive, polluted areas cleaned up as fast as possible. Here, the company and their local representatives were uncooperative in cleaning up the spill. They also dragged out the appeals and negotiations. In cases like this, we stand our ground until the polluter is held accountable," she said.
The PCHB ruled that 800 to 1,500 gallons of heavy fuel oil was spilled into the Columbia River at Longview due to negligence by the crew during refueling of the 610-foot grain carrier. At one time the oil slick reached 20 miles downstream. The cleanup lasted until February 4, 1994.
Bern Shanks, director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said department biologists observed many oiled birds, including an injured peregrine falcon and several oiled bald eagles. They also reported fish and shellfish killed by the oil on Fisher Island, two miles downstream from Longview. The island contains over a hundred blue heron nests. Also, there was evidence of the oil affecting river otter, raccoons and beaver.
"It appears the damage to fish and wildlife may have been more severe than originally suspected," Shanks said. "This incident demonstrates how vulnerable the lower Columbia is to oil spills of any size."
Under the settlement, by November 30, 1996 the firm will pay $300,000:
Earlier this year, the U.S. Coast Guard filed a Class II penalty for $95,000 against the shipping company for the same incident. A federal court upheld the penalty.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
