Governors of Great Lakes States Sign Oil Spill Cleanup Accord

CHICAGO —  In what they described as a direct reaction to last spring’s Alaskan oil spill, governors of the eight states bordering the Great Lakes agreed Saturday to establish a region-wide plan for cleaning up spills of petroleum products and hazardous materials.

“We are committed . . . to developing an effective plan to both prevent oil spills and to provide quick response in the event of such an accident,” said Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors.

The agreement was signed as the nation’s governors gathered in Chicago for the meeting of the National Governors’ Assn.

Form Closed System

The five Great Lakes hold 20% of the world’s fresh water and supply drinking water to 30 million Midwesterners. They are a major economic and recreational resource and a major route for migratory birds. Unlike oceans, they form a closed system unable to flush out hazardous spills. And, unlike the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, they are not included in national oil and hazardous material spill strategy.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Appelbaum, who met with the governors Saturday, said that his agency was already studying a worst-case spill plan for the Great Lakes but that the responsibility for any cleanup belongs to private industry.

An estimated 81 million barrels of refined petroleum products and hazardous materials are shipped on the Great Lakes each year in tankers. Additional shipments are made on barges.

Sees Another Threat

“Stationary sources of potential spills may be a greater threat,” said Michigan Gov. James J. Blanchard, citing heavy industry, chemical plants and storage tanks near the shoreline.

In the agreement, the governors pledged to establish an emergency spill control plan for each state, to maintain a central catalogue of spill-fighting equipment and expertise and to try to set up at least one center specifically designed to respond to a spill.

The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives by Great Lakes governors. In 1986 they agreed to ban oil drilling in the lakes and last year they set up a fund to fight toxic pollution in the lakes.