HAZELWOOD WORKS AS CONSULTANT, AWAITS APPEAL

The Associated Press

FAIRBANKS- The fifth anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill is Thursday, and the skipper of the tanker and the man who was the focus of the inquiry works now for his lawyers as a consultant in marine affairs. Joe Hazelwood was convicted in 1990 of illegally discharging oil, a misdemeanor. But he was acquitted of the more serious charge of operating a vessel while intoxicated.

The 47-year-old Hazelwood has appealed his conviction and his sentence to clean oily rocks in Prince William Sound, where the nation's worst oil spill occurred when the Exxon Valdez slammed into a charted reef.

His case is pending in the state Court of Appeals.

Hazelwood is working for the same lawyers who are representing him in his case the Chalos and Brown admiralty law firm in New York, his father, Joseph Hazelwood Sr., told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

"They deal with insurance problems and such in seagoing vessels," the elder Hazelwood said. "He commutes into Manhattan every day. He is getting along quite nicely."

His son is denying all interviews, Hazelwood said.

Both Hazelwoods live in Huntington, N.Y. That's on Long Island, about 50 miles outside New York City.

Joseph Hazelwood Jr. was fired as the Exxon Valdez captain two days after the spill.

He appeared in federal court in Fairbanks on Nov. 3, 1989, and was charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, operating a vessel while intoxicated and negligent discharge of oil.

He was found not guilty of everything except negligent discharge of oil at his trial in Anchorage. He was given a $1,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service, a sentence he's appealing.

His master's license was suspended for nine months in 1990 and 1991 as part of a settlement with the U.S. Coast Guard. The skipper pleaded no contest to leaving the bridge of the tanker and consuming alcohol within four hours of sailing.

In late 1991, he landed a job with the State University of New York's Maritime College to teach students how to stand watch. It was a two-month contract.

Hazelwood has worked for the Chalos and Brown law firm for about a year, his father said.

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