Nowhere To Run or to Hide

By Barbara Rudolph

After the tanker Exxon Valdez plowed into a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, causing the worst oil spill in U.S. history, Exxon Chairman Lawrence Rawl made himself scarce. He waited almost a week before he publicly commented on the disaster, and it was more than two weeks before he ventured to Valdez. Last week, at Exxon's shareholder meeting, Rawl was forced to confront -- personally and directly -- a very angry public.

Before he could enter the Aspen Hotel in Parsippany, N.J., where the meeting was held, Rawl had to run a gauntlet of hundreds of angry demonstrators, some chanting, "What do you do with a drunken sailor? Make him skipper of an Exxon tanker!" Environmental activist Barry Commoner summed up the spirit of the crowd when he declared, "We are here to pass judgment on a crime against nature and the American people."

In his speech to some 1,800 stockholders, Rawl accepted Exxon's "responsibility to clean up the spill and meet our obligations to those who were adversely affected by it." A team of independent board members, Rawl announced, would investigate management's possible culpability. He promised that an environmentalist would be named to Exxon's board, but when pressed, he admitted, "I don't know who that would be, and I don't know what the criteria would be."

Many in the audience remained unimpressed. One stockholder, Ed Rothschild, president of the Citizen-Labor Energy Coalition, called on Rawl to resign. "The answer is no," came the chairman's quick reply. He also rebuffed several shareholders who suggested that he donate some of his own money -- his salary in 1988 was $1.4 million -- to the cleanup effort.

As Rawl fielded questions, the National Transportation Safety Board continued a week of investigative hearings into the spill. The board disclosed new evidence that the tanker's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, had at least two drinks in the hours before the accident. James Kunkel, the ship's chief mate, described the terrifying moments after the ship hit the reef. "I feared for my life," Kunkel said. "I wondered if I would see my wife again."

Despite the efforts of nearly 7,600 workmen, more than 700 miles of coastline remain polluted eight weeks after the spill. Two annual migrations - of economic importance to Alaska have also been damaged. The flocking of tourists to the sound has slowed. And though inspectors who examined fish caught at the start of the salmon season last week pronounced them clean, not everyone was convinced. Alaskan red salmon was selling for $2.50 a lb., down from $3.50 last year. These days, many Americans would rather be safe than sorry.

With reporting by Stephen Pomper/New York and David Postman/Anchorage