Blame Game In Spanish Oil Spill

Spain's environment minister dismissed accusations that the country could have done more to salvage a stricken oil tanker that spilled nearly 3 million gallons of oil and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

Environment Minister Jaume Matas instead blamed the Dutch salvage company SMIT for the spill from the Prestige, the newspaper La Razon reported Sunday. The oil washed up on the shores of northwestern Spain, causing grave environmental damage and crippling the region's fishing industry.

"It's a disgrace that we should have to provide explanations for these people," Matas said. "They are the ones who provoked the spill. The government has done everything possible to avert greater damage and to solve the problem."

Matas did not say how SMIT was responsible. The company said Spain was wrong to demand that it take the tanker out to sea instead of providing a port where crews could have drained the 20 million gallons of oil.

"We wanted a place to repair the vessel and Spain made us go out to sea with a ship that was sinking and leaking oil," spokesman Lars Walder told The Associated Press. "That was the worst of all possible solutions."

SMIT took charge of the Prestige after the vessel nearly ran aground on Nov. 13 and then ruptured in a storm. The company repeatedly asked for a port where it could repair the ship or remove the 20 million gallons of fuel oil inside.

The company specializes in salvaging wrecks. It helped raise Russia's Kursk nuclear submarine in 2001, a year after an explosion on the 18,000-ton vessel sent it to the bottom of the Barents Sea, killing all 118 aboard.

The Prestige was towed out to sea with a large hole in its side as a storm raged along the northwestern Spanish coast. It broke in two and sank last Tuesday, taking most of its fuel oil to the ocean floor about two miles below the surface.

"These decisions are always questionable," Matas told La Razon. "But the government took them after serious and rigorous meditation and under the technical and scientific advice of those that know."

Several others have also criticized Spain's handling of the disaster. The government says the Prestige lost some 2.9 million gallons before sinking, while environmental organizations claim it spilled twice that much.

"If, on the contrary, the Prestige had been towed in and run up onto a beach, so that most of its fuel could have been pumped out...the damage would have been minimized without a doubt," Javier de Mendoza, a professor at Madrid's Autonomous University, wrote in a letter to the leading daily El Pais on Sunday.

He said the boat was towed away for political reasons. "It was deemed preferable to push the danger hundreds of kilometers away, like sweeping the dirt under the rug."

Portugal, meanwhile, rejected Spain's claim that the oil inside the vessel has solidified, and said the tanker is still leaking.

Crews have worked since the spill last week to clean the shoreline, scooping up tons of oily slop. The slicks washed up on hundreds of beaches and coves over 250 miles, forcing the government to ban fishing, the region's livelihood.

But the main slick is still 120 miles off the coast and many fear the damage will only get worse. Spain claims the situation is under control.

"I don't think we can call this a black tide," Deputy Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Saturday. "These are isolated and localized slicks."

Improved weather conditions Sunday allowed Dutch and French boats to head out to clean up the slicks.

Four more cleanup boats were to arrive this week from Britain, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Spain has asked France for a small submarine to examine the wrecked tanker for any signs it is leaking oil.

Spain is suing the ship's owner, the Liberia-registered Mare Shipping Inc., as well as its insurance company and the vessel's captain, who has been jailed.