Testimony sought after oil spill in Puget Sound
SEATTLE – A federal grand jury in Seattle is seeking testimony from ConocoPhillips employees about last month’s mysterious oil spill in South Puget Sound, the Seattle Times reported Saturday.
Citing three unnamed sources close to the inquiry, the Times said the grand jury issued subpoenas to ConocoPhillips employees to find out about operations of the Polar Texas, an oil tanker run by Polar Tankers, a Long Beach, Calif.-based subsidiary of Conoco.
The grand jury’s action indicates the oil spill could become a criminal investigation, although the subpoenas also could be used to help the Coast Guard in its civil investigation.
Investigators have been trying to identify the vessel responsible for the 1,000-gallon spill in Dalco Passage in mid-October, which left an oily slick as far south as the Tacoma Narrows and as far north as Eagle Harbor off Bainbridge Island.
The spill, reported Oct. 14, fouled 21 miles of beaches and cost nearly $2 million to clean up.
The subpoenas were disclosed to the Seattle Times by a Conoco employee, a person close to the company and a federal law-enforcement official, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
They did not provide the names of people who received the subpoenas, but the Conoco employee said crew members on the Polar Texas were ordered to appear before the grand jury.
A Conoco spokesman and a company attorney declined to comment to the Times, and messages the Associated Press left with two spokespeople were not immediately returned Saturday.
The Houston-based company has said it doesn’t believe the Polar Texas was responsible for the spill.
Conoco, Alaska’s largest oil producer, has said it is cooperating in the investigation. But the company has begun hiring attorneys to represent employees, two sources told the Times, and the subpoenas indicate investigators found it necessary to compel testimony.
Coast Guard investigators began focusing on the Polar Texas two weeks ago, after oil samples taken from Puget Sound appeared to chemically match samples taken from the vessel shortly after the spill, two federal officials said at the time, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Investigators boarded the Polar Texas Nov. 5 at Conoco’s Ferndale refinery north of Bellingham to question crew members.
This past week, the Coast Guard sent divers to inspect the hull of the vessel while it was docked in Port Angeles, the Conoco employee said. The Coast Guard declined to comment on the diving operation.
The Polar Texas carries crude oil between Alaska and Washington ports. It left Tacoma late in the afternoon of Oct. 13; a tug operator reported the spill about 1 a.m. Oct. 14. Investigators took oil samples from the vessel Oct. 17 in Valdez, Alaska.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week, Conoco disclosed it had received a grand jury subpoena in Anchorage on Sept. 1 regarding potential environmental violations aboard Conoco’s Polar Alaska.