RUSSIAN OIL SPILL . . .A PRE-SPRING CLEANING NEEDED

A Russian government commission is urging authorities to reverse anearlier decisionwhich recommended postponing cleanup of a massive oil spill until spring. The spill originated from a series of ruptures in a 31-mile pipeline that has leaked millions of gallons in Northern Russia in several accidents since 1988. Some of the petrochemicals have leaked into rivers that empty into the Arctic Ocean. If the cleanup is delayed until spring, the commission says, seasonal flooding will intensify the spill's impact. U.S. authorities have said as much as 80 million gallons of oil may have spilled, while Russian officials say it was between 4.1 million and 17.6 million gallons. Meanwhile, representatives of Greenpeace, after touring the area, called the spill "a major ecological disaster" and said there were no signs of cleanup activity underway.