SAN FRANCISCO (AP).- A tanker ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II near California’s scenic Central Coast may still represent a danger to the environment, according to scientists investigating the rusting hulk. The 440-foot Montebello has been lying under 900 feet of water, four miles from the coast of Cambria, since Dec. 23, 1941 — 16 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nearly 70 years later, scientists with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute are trying to determine if the 3.5 million gallons of crude oil in its hold are still there, and whether the sludge can threaten the coastline. This month, a submersible robot from the institute reached the wreck and sent back three-dimensional sonar images of the ship. The information is being analyzed, but understanding the state of the ship and any oil left on board will be a slow process requiring additional dives, researchers said. Jack Hunter, an underwater archaeologist for Caltrans, was part