Daily Sitka Sentinel from Sitka, Alaska • Page 3

Daily Sitka Sentinel, Sitka, Alaska, Thursday, August 24,1989, Page 3 Use of Solvent OK'd In Oil Spill Cleanup By PAUL JENKINS Associated Press Writer VALDEZ, Alaska (AP) Exxon Corp. on Wednesday won limited, state and federal approval to use a kerosene-based solvent in cleaning oil-stained shores of Prince William Sound. Authorities approved use of Corexit 9580 on Smith Island, heavily contaminated when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground March 24 and spilled nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil. Corexit is to be used on the island at the rate of a gallon per 100 square feet. About 3.5 miles of the island remain heavily oiled.

giving them the opportunity to show they can use Corexit Steve Provant, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official on loan to the state. Provant said Alaska officials be- lieve the solvent poses "some lexico- logical risk," but the gamble may be balanced by the stepped up removal of oil from shorelines. Exxon's use of the chemical will be monitored closely by state and federal agencies, he said. Exxon will gear up.

as quickly as possible to apply the substance, company spokesman Karsten Rodvik said. "I expect that will be within a day," he said. Exxon said Corexit 9580, one in a line of a products put out by Exxon Chemical for use in battling oil spills, has low toxicity and is biodegradable. Very little of the substance will remain in the water, the company said. The solvent is designed to soften and dissolve weathered oil, lifting it off rocks.

"I feel that Corexit is no more toxic than the oil we're washing off," said Hans Jahn, an Exxon arctic re- sarch scientist who headed the field testing of CorexiL "I see no disadvantages, only advantages. We can wash beaches faster." The company plans to spray the $10-a-gallon liquid on oiled shores and let it stand for about 15 minutes. The oil and chemical then are to be washed into an offshore area and collected by skimmers and absorbent The next step involves treating the area with fertilizer to stimulate growth of microbes that feed on hydrocarbons and can further break down lingering oil. Exxon officials said the company has 1,000 55-gallon barrels of the solvent in Valdez and expects to need only part of that. More than 800 miles of shoreline along Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska were oiled after the spill.

Crews using hot, high-pressure water and absorbent materials have removed some oil from part of the sullied shores, but the company and state officials nave not agreed on what constitutes clean. They also are at odds over Exxon's plans to end clean -up work for the year on Sept. 15, and to assess shoreline conditions in 1990 before making a commitment to perform more cleanup. Jahn said use of the solvent will allow crews to move much more quickly. "Our feeling is it will double the rate, at least," he said.

"You have to do less washing and the water doesn't have to be so hot" Exxon scientists spent much of Wednesday afternoon briefing a handful of reporters about. Corexit. The scientists said they've had problems getting the public to accept use of the chemical, and have been frustrated by the state's attitude. 'We don't feel we've had a lot of help in developing Corexit for operational use," said Bob Mastracchil, Exxon's technical manager in Valdez. "It's been a very frustrating process for us, honestly." "The questions have to end at some point," he said.

"You have to deal with the data you have in hand. It's a relative risk." No Conclusions Yet In Anchorage Police Case ANCHORAGE (AP) Police 10 months agp were accused of brutality after an incident which left two people charged and a pit bull shot, but the Anchorage Police Department still has not concluded whether its officers acted properly. A patrolman went to the home of David Matlock on October 6 to investigate a reckless driving report. Before it was over, 10 officers were at the scene, Matlock's dog had been shot and he and his roommate were charged with disorderly conduct. The charges against Mallock and Bobby Smith later were dropped.

They and a neighbor claimed the officers had used unnecessary force. The city since has paid Smith "incidental" expenses incurred because of his arrest, said Assistant Municipal Attorney Dick McVeigh. "I recommended settling the thing for $1,000 just to get it out of the office before it escalated any more," he said. The city could have lost more if the case had gone to court, he said. "In my evaluation, uninvolvcd people with no ax to grind could have found there was some inappropriate activity by the police," Me Veigh said.

"It looks like things got out of hand a little bit." Officer Barry Reed said when he went to Matlock's home to investigate the reckless driving report, Matlock slammed the door on his hand. He called for help. A neighbor said she saw four or five officers grab Matlock, throw him on the ground and strike him with nightsticks as they handcuffed him. Smith, the stepson of former Police Chief Ron Olte, was arrested as he tried to help Matlock. The neighbor said she saw three officers go into the house and heard gunshots.

Pepper, a pit bull with a new litter of pups, was growing nervous and police said she lunged at an officer who tried to fend her off with his baton. Then, the officer fired, hitting her twice. One of the dog's legs later was amputated. The matter was investigated by the department's staff inspections unit. The report was sent to a disciplinary panel, where it remains.

Deputy Police Chief Duane Udland said the investigation has taken an unusually long time because several witnesses were unavailable or reluctant to testify. After the review panel makes its recommendations, the case will go back to investigators and eventually to the police chief for action, he said. The review board received the investigative report in May and came to a preliminary conclusion, Udland said. But the panel of five commanding officers was to look at the case again. "It's been kicked back to the disciplinary review board and they are supposed to come up with a written document with comments on the investigation, he said.

"There was some other information they needed to look at and it was sent back to them." Matlock's lawyer, Richard Collins, questioned whether the panel could objectively evaluate the matter. "It sort of looks like they put the fox to guard the hen house," Collins said. Provant said the EPA and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will monitor initial use of the chemical and then decide whether to allow expanded use. "If they show they can use Corexit effectively, we can allow a second team to set up and work on Smith Island," he said. Use of Corexit has been a major point of argument between the state and Exxon for months.

Exxon officials said the state created unnecessary barriers, but Provant said that is not the case. "I say they've got a chemcial they haven't proven," he said. "They have not, in my opinion, developed it in a responsible scientific manner. Every time we give them a carrot, they go for the whole State officials have expressed concern that use of Corexit would allow Exxon to clean shoreline rocks quickly, while leaving behind other oil that later could wash up at major fish hatcheries in Prince William Sound. "It makes the beach look real good, but what is it really doing?" Provant said.

The Exxon scientists said there is little available data on Corexit's use because it has been applied only in limited tests. Corexit was reformulated for use in the sound. In May, field tests of the chemcial on Ingot Island proved disappointing, and Exxon scientists came up with Corexit 9580. The solvent was reformulated in early July and later that month was tested on Eleanor Island in the sound. Additional tests occurred at Disk and Smith islands.

Despite Exxon's claims for the solvent, regulators on Aug. 14 and again a few days later rejected Exxon's proposed use. Teen-ager Shot PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia (AP) A teen-ager was fatally shot by Royal Canadian Mounted Police after police went to a residence to investigate a taxi driver robbery. Police said Leonard Pillion, 19, was shot after two officers were confronted by a man with a knife who approached them in a threatening manner. Pillion was pronounced dead on arrival at Prince George Regional Hospital at 2:45 a.m.

PDT Wednesday. Superintendent Keith Thompson refused to disclose how many shots were fired or whether both officers participated in the shooting. But neighbors said they heard three shots. HARMDUKES MOB'S GOT TO Mil GIVES YOU A THRU. BUT HERE? THE CABIiOHES There's no better time to call Cooke CableVision.

Your $5 installation fee goes directly to The Muscular Dystrophy Association. And, because Cable Cares, you get two free months of The Disney Channel. Call today and help us meet our $3 million goal. COOKE CABLEVISION INC 747-3535 Continued from Page 1 such as insurance, fuel, food, and gear- Also, short seasons make a breakdown critical, since the lost time cannot be made up later in the season, said the report. "Fishing seasons vary and in other salmon fisheries, good seasons make up for the inevitable poor ones," said the report.

"For trailers, the big season is not possible due to restricted catch levels of the (rollers' money fish, king salmon. Thus, long-run income is reduced and permit values are affected." Another consequence of shorter seasons, said the report, is "to make up the difference in lost earnings, most (rollers are forced into other fisheries for which they and-or (heir vessels may not. be suited. The black cod and halibut fisheries have proven especially risky with both troll vessels and lives lost to heavy weather in recent years." Southeast Alaska trailers have been pushing for an increase in the number of king salmon they can harvest under the U.S. treaty with Canada.

The report said natural king salmon stocks have "rebounded far beyond expectations in the early rebuilding program," so that Washington and Oregon fisheries have increased their harvest while the Alaska resident fleet is "bound for years by restrictions with no relief in sight under the principal of fair sharing of a rebuilding resource." The report noted that the summer king season was reduced from 169 days in 1978 to 12 days in 1988. The coho season went from 92 days to 59 during that time span. The report also says "abundance of king salmon in Southeast waters is so much improved that daily catch rates have quadrupled in the six years between 1982 and 1988." The document lists Alaska Department of Fish and Game records as its source. The terms of the U.S.-Canada treaty were officially imposed upon the troll fleet in 1985. The McDowell report listed the following effects of the treaty on Southeast Alaska fishermen: Since 1985, average gross income per power troll permit fished has declined in relation to average per permit gill net and seine earnings.

Between 1978 and 1986, the latter termed as a "good troll year," power troll income after adjustment for inflation declined by 19 percent. King salmon fishing restrictions, combined with less fishing time for other species, have caused the market values for trolling permits to When adjusted for inflation, power troll permits are the only Southeast salmon permits to lose value in the past 11 years, showing a drop of 23 percent. Without the adjustment for inflation, the power troll permit would be 39 percent higher than 11 years ago, while gill net permits are up 199 percent. The report notes that the decline of troll income is affecting communities as well. The most significant loss was in Juneau, where trolling brought in 50 percent of all harvest earnings in 1978 before dropping to 17 percent in 1986.

In Sitka, trolling accounted for 48 percent of fishermen's earnings in 1978, before dropping to 31 percent in "The economic problems of the troll fleet touch virtually every munity because (he economic benefits of (hat fishery are more widely distributed throughput the region than those of other salmon fisheries," said the report "Power trolling brings income to 27 Southeast communities, and hand trolling to 26. By contrast, gillnetu'ng affects 11 communities, seining 14 and setnetting only five." Nevertheless, trolling is still important to the economics of nearly all Southeast communities. The report notes that in 21 communities, more than 50 "percent of the active fishery permit holders are either hand or power trailers. The report says cutbacks in troll harvests and seasons also has the following effects: Processors face higher costs due to shorter seasons, because of factors such as higher labor costs in order to retain an adequate work force for a shorter season. Fewer Alaskan residents are willing to work short processing seasons, so that non-resident hire is likely to increase.

The reduced availability of troll -caught salmon affects market causing buyers to seek other sources of fresh fish and thereby weakening Alaska's position in the marketplace; Says the report, "Unless higher troll catch levels are permitted for both king and coho, as well as other species, the region's, most important resident fishery is certain to falter economically. The inevitable return to lower prices in 1989 and beyond spells economic trouble for the 1,367 -vessel troll fleet, processors, processing employees, the 29 communities in Southeast which rely on troll income, the 50 percent of all active permit holders in the region who are trailers, and 2,304 resident Alaskans who earn some of all of their income aboard troll vessels, permit values, and the 7 percent of the region's economic base employment which is directly accounted for by troll harvesting and processing. the allowable king catch, managing coho allqcatigns'coiisistent- ly establishing even moderately greater length would prevent the far-reaching and subslantial negative economic effects of further troll fleet income losses." Autopsies Held on 6 Victims Of Plane Crash in Canada EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) -Three of the six victims of Monday's crash of a float plane into Great Slave Lake near Yellowknife drowned after being knocked autopsy results indicate. Autopsies done in Edmonton on Wednesday found the pilot and two passengers died from drowning. The three other passengers are believed to have died on impact.

Constable Dennis Esayenko of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Snowdrift, Northwest Territories, said the three who drowned might have "saved themselves" if they hadn't been knocked out The six men, four from the Edmonton area, were returning from a fishing trip at Plummcrs Lodge, about 45 miles east of Yellowknife, when the plane apparently stalled and crashed into Great Slave Lake before bursting into flames. Killed were Greg Moshansky and Dale Parlane of Sherwood Park, Alberta; Murray John Ross and Willem Schouten of Edmonton; Pekka Markus of Helsinki, Finland; and pilot Kerry McQuarrie of Sechelt, British Columbia. Moshansky was the brother of Justice Virgil Moshansky, who is conducting an inquiry into the crash of an Air Ontario jet near Dryden, Ontario, last March. Harry Boyko, regional manager for the Canadian Aviation Safety Board, said on-site investigators were planning to lift the wreckage of the single -engined de Havilland Beaver float plane out of the lake. Boyko said information from the scene was sketchy because the radio transmitter at the fishing lodge, the only form of communication, was out of service.

It will be two months before (he accident report will be made public. Man Convicted Of Manslaughter FAIRBANKS (P) A man charged with murder in the February shooting death of his wife was convicted Tuesday of manslaughter. Joseph Parker, 48, had been charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 11 death of Linda Parker, 34. She had been shot once behind her right ear, troopers said.

A Superior Court jury found the unemployed heavy equipment operator guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter after deliberating less than a dav. Th'a 's a I' 'ted I'm offer available only to new subscribers in Ihose areas serviced by Cooke Cable TV. Offer applies lo standard installation. Noi valid with any other offer. Some services not available in all areas.

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