NATION IN BRIEF : ALASKA : Ultimatum Could Disrupt Oil Shipping

A tough ultimatum to oil shippers from the state of Alaska could stop crude oil shipments from the nation’s largest domestic source of oil. The state has ordered two dozen tanker companies to develop spill response plans for all tankers within a month or it will forbid them to load crude oil at the Valdez terminal. The deadline is Nov. 13. The Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., operator of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline and the Valdez oil terminal, has refused to assume responsibility for any spill beyond an initial response, said Larry Dietrick, director of the state Division of Environmental Quality. The state warned the president of Alyeska in a letter from Dennis Kelso, the commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, that “no tanker should be loaded with oil by Alyeska unless the tanker has an approved contingency plan.”