Gov. Jim Florio accused Exxon Corp. of lax handling of a 570,000-gallon oil spill in a bird and fish sanctuary, and said the state had learned from the Exxon Valdez spill not to trust the company. Exxon, responding to Florio's comments Tuesday, defended its response to the Jan. 2 spill _ and to the Valdez disaster _ and said it would fulfill its responsibilities for the cleanup. Florio said the state Department of Environmental Protection has determined that a pipeline operator and supervisor on duty at the time of the spill in the Arthur Kill lacked the certification required by New York authorities, which shares jurisdiction for the waterway. A portion of pipe will be pulled out of the waterway, which lies between New Jersey and the New York City borough of Staten Island, and transported to Ohio for lab tests that could help determine the cause of the spill, Florio said. Exxon confirmed it was removing the pipe today for tests at its expense. Florio, the Democrat elected governor last year after a strong pro-environment campaign, said New York and New Jersey authorities had mapped out a strategy to restore the important East Coast spawning ground for birds and fish, which scientists say absorbed serious damage from the spilled heating oil. No dollar figure has been assigned to the damage, nor have cleanup costs been established. ``I want to make it clear to everyone in New Jersey that this will not be another Valdez,'' Florio said, referring to the March 28 wreck that spilled more than 10 million gallons of oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. ``Exxon will not be allowed to hit and run. ... ``My impression of what's happening in Valdez is that Exxon seems to be inclined to wipe its hands sooner rather than later,'' Florio said. ``We're not going to allow that approach to be duplicated here.'' Exxon spokesman Leo McLean defended Exxon's cleanup in Alaska and said the company was cooperating with authorities to ``assess potential impacts ... and work toward agreement'' on the Arthur Kill cleanup. Florio reiterated claims that pipeline operators ignored warnings of a possible leak. Exxon has attributed the slow detection of the pipeline's problems to equipment failure, rather than human error. Florio said James Fitzgerald, a console operator at Exxon's Bayway refinery, had not obtained the certification required of pipeline operators by the New York Fire Department. George Leth, the shift supervisor who trained Fitzgerald, also was not certified to operate the equipment, Florio said. The lack of certification ``was another piece of information we will factor into the on-going investigation the attorney general is conducting,'' Florio said. McLean said he could not confirm or deny the certification claim until the company completed its own investigation.
