Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990                   TAG: 9004100597
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/4   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA                                LENGTH: Medium

EXXON PLEADS INNOCENT TO CRIMINAL INDICTMENT/ OIL SPILL TRIAL IS EXPECTED TO

Attorneys for Exxon Corp. and Exxon Shipping Co. entered the pleas Monday in two separate arraignments before U.S. District Judge John Roberts. Each company has been charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors.

The two Feb. 27 indictments stem from the March 24, 1989, spill of nearly 11 million gallons of North Slope crude oil from the tanker Exxon Valdez, which ran aground and ripped its bottom open on a charted reef outside shipping lanes in Prince William Sound.

The oil coated hundreds of miles of coastline and killed countless fish, birds and other marine life.

"We view this as a tragic accident, but an accident," Jim Neal, chief lawyer for Exxon Shipping, said after the arraignment. "We certainly didn't intend to spill oil."

But Exxon is not contending it is being unjustly prosecuted, he said.

"We're not going to say we're being unfairly treated," said Neal. "We're big boys. We're going to defend ourselves."

Federal prosecutors have said Exxon and Exxon Shipping face up to $700 million in fines and other criminal penalties if convicted. Exxon reportedly had been negotiating a plea bargain with the federal government, but Neal said Monday that such talks no longer are under way.

The charges include violating the federal Clean Water Act by discharging oil without a permit, killing migratory birds and willfully employing crew members who were not physically or mentally competent to operate the huge oil tanker.

The government's attorney, Charles DeMonaco, would not discuss the case Monday.

Neal said Exxon hopes the charges do not obscure the fact the corporation has spent about $2 billion trying to clean up the spilled oil. "We stepped up and we took responsibility for it," he said.

The Nashville, Tenn., attorney served as chief counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor and as a special assistant to former Attorney General Robert Kennedy.

Roberts said a jury trial will be automatic, and that the case probably will be complex and extended. The case has been assigned to another federal judge in Anchorage. No date was set for the trial.

Roberts also said the government's intention to seek fines equal to double the gross losses from the spill would generate litigation.