AEROSPACE

Exxon Seeks to Keep Valdez Suit Federal: The oil company asked a federal appeals court in San Francisco to keep a multibillion-dollar lawsuit filed against it by Alaskan fishermen and other private parties in federal court. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that the suit was filed under Alaska safety and negligence laws and should be returned to state court. They fear that most of their claims would be dismissed in federal court. Separately, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the oil company consortium that operates the Valdez tanker loading facility, proposed to settle its portion of the case for $98 million. But N. Robert Stoll, a Portland lawyer representing many local governments in Alaska, called the plan unacceptable.