Tanker’s captain faces extradition to Alaska
NZPA-Reuter Valdez, Alaska Alaskan authorities will try to force the captain of the Exxon Valdez to return to face criminal charges for being intoxicated when the tanker went aground, causing North America’s worst oil spill. The state of Alaska has charged Captain Joseph Hazelwood with operating his ship while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and negligent discharge of oil.
The state’s Attorney General, Doug Baily, was quoted yesterday as saying he believed Captain Hazelwood, fired by Exxon last Thursday, had
left Alaska. “I understand he is out of state,” Baily said, adding he believed Captain Hazelwood had joined his family in Long Island, New York.
The charges against Captain Hazelwood allege he was drunk when the tanker ran aground on March 24 in Prince William Sound and forced closure of the nearby port of Valdez, the southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. The tanker ruptured, spilling 50 million litres of oil and causing extensive environmental damage that has spread more than 2000 sq km.
State officials said that
Alaska state troopers could seek help from New York authorities to extradite Captain Hazelwood on an arrest warrant issued last Friday.
A New York State Police spokesman said the Long Island police region had not received any extradition request yet or any other order related to the case. Blood tests taken nine hours after the tanker’s grounding showed Captain Hazelwood had a bloodalcohol content of .061 per cent — above the .04 per cent considered legally drunk by the Coast Guard, National Transportation Safety Board investigators said.
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Press, 3 April 1989, Page 10
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258Tanker’s captain faces extradition to Alaska Press, 3 April 1989, Page 10
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