The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 1

Dow gains 8.37 points, rises back above 800- pi Wednesday, March 10, 1982 20 CENTS Vol. 306, No. 69 1982. Th Philadelphia Inquirer ridestarc Plant last Mock iter IXC 1X1 14 hurt; hundreds fight fire Censure of Williams proposed GOP opposes motion in caucus By Robert J. Terry, L.

Stuart Ditzen and MarcSchogol Inquirer Stall Writers At least 14 people were injured yesterday as a result of an explosion and six-alarm fire at the Allied Chemical Corp. plant in the Brides-burg section of Philadelphia. The blast occurred shortly after 3 p.m., and its force and the resulting shrapnel shattered scores of nearby windows, including those in a school across the street where students had been dismissed about half an hour earlier. Flames leaped high into the air, and thick, black clouds of smoke towered over adjacent Interstate 95 and across the Delaware River into New Jersey. The fire was declared under control at 12:18 a.m.

today. Fire officials said firefighters would remain on the scene through the night. City and company officials said the explosion occurred in three tanks containing 100,000 gallons of cumen hydroperoxide, which officials said was an irritant but was not toxic. The chemical is a byproduct of phenol, a flammable substance used in man-made fibers, glue, lubrication oil, weed killers and other items. Thousands of gallons of heating fuel stored in a tank nearby also burst into flames, fire officials said.

A company official estimated the damage at more than $5 million. While the cause of the explosion and fire was not immediately known, an Allied Chemical official said it might have been the result of a faulty instrument that allowed a chemical tank to overflow. The overflowing chemical then might have come into contact with one of a number of hot steam pipes, igniting the blast. 1-95 was closed for 90 minutes, and (See ALLIED on 10-A) ((" ixr By Aaron Epstein Inquirer Wajhlnrlon Bureau WASHINGTON A resolution to censure, rather than expel, Sen. Harrison A.

Williams Jr. N.J.) was introduced in the Senate yesterday, but it appeared headed for defeat after Republicans declared their near-unanimous opposition at a caucus later in the day. Despite overwhelming odds, Senate Minority Whip Alan Cranston, who introduced the censure resolution, made a lengthy, impassioned plea on the floor that his colleagues allow Williams to stay in the Senate because he was the victim of "the grossest abuse of power" by the government in the Abscam investigation. Cranston, a tall, slender, balding Democrat from California, accused undercover FBI agents of continually prodding and pressuring Williams until they finally managed to "manufacture a crime Ifor Sen. Williams to commit if he did." Then, in the most dramatic moment of the four days of debate so far, Sen.

Thomas F. Eagleton who had worked with Williams for 13 years in support of liberal legislation, tore into Williams' defense in an emotional speech laden with personal sadness. Eagleton, a former Missouri attorney general, replied to the suggestion advanced by Cranston and others that any senator could have been trapped by Abscam-style undercover work. He asked his silent, attentive colleagues: "Would any of you have engaged in (See WILLIAMS on 4-A) A high-stakes, high-pressure antitrust fight By Paul Taylor Washington Post St'rvkc WASHINGTON When William A. Meehan, lobbyist, marched into the office of Sen.

Arlen Specter one day last month, no round of introductions was necessary. Meehan does not cut much of a swath in Washington; he's never lobbied here before. But in Philadelphia, home to both Meehan and Specter, Meehan has been the Republican Party boss for the last two decades, and he's the closest thing Specter, a first-term Republican senator from Pennsylvania, has to a political godfather. His lobbying visit was financed by the Milliken Research a South Carolina-based textile firm found guilty of price fixing in a bitterly contested 12-year-old antitrust suit. Milliken is trying to persuade Congress to rewrite the antitrust laws to change the way damages are assessed in price-fixing cases and to apply the changes retroactively to the Milliken case, thereby reducing by two-thirds the potential damage (See ANTITRUST on 8-A) Metal hurled by explosion hits N.J.

towns By Julia Cass, Tom Torok and Douglas A. Campbell Inquirer Stall Writers Chunks of metal, some up to three feet long, rained on two New Jersey riverfront communities yesterday afternoon moments after an explosion ripped through the Allied Chemical Corp. plant in Philadelphia's Bridesburg section, three miles away. A strong westerly wind that later carried a thick cloud of smoke across several Burlington County communities helped transport the light pieces of metal into Palmyra and Riverton, police said. One 7-year-old boy was taken by ambulance to Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital in Riverside.

Police said that he suffered a minor burn on his hand from picking up a piece of debris. He was released from the hospital after treatment. Three members of the Palmyra police department also were treated at the hospital for (See METAL on 11-A) Ph.ladelph Inqutrer SHARON J. WOHLMUTH Smoke billows high above the fire at the Allied Chemical Corp. plant; adjacent Interstate 9S was closed for 90 minutes Snatching 2 victims iront a uuuu a yiuzp jummturt Tin mn HERO Tine is the.

last in a series about KATHY GOSL1NER, retiring as the mayor's press secretary to have a baby, gives one last interview off the record, of course. Page 1-E. Weather Index Covert unit said OKd by Reagan By Patrick E. Tyler and Bob Woodward Washington Post Service WASHINGTON President Reagan has authorized covert operations against Nicaragua which, administration officials have charged, is serving as the military command center and supply line to guerrillas in El Salvador. According to informed administration officials, the President has ruled out the use of U.S.

military forces in direct anti-Nicaragua operations. But the authorized covert plan directs the CIA to begin to build and fund a paramilitary force of up to 500 Latin Americans, who would operate out of commando camps along the Nicara-guan-Honduran border. The officials stressed that it would take months for the force to be recruited, trained and positioned to begin operations. They did not say when the cross-border operations (See NICARAGUA on 7-A) I Ri By Barbara Kantrowitz Inquirer Slaff Writer BRADY'S BEND, Pa. It started out as just an ordinary summer night.

Evelyn Ritchey and her mother-in-law, Myrtle, were playing bingo at the fire hall in East Brady. About a mile away, Davis Palmer watched television and then went to bed early, as he almost always does. Just an ordinary summer night: Aug. 14, 1980. But before the night was over, nine people would die, houses would disappear into an angry river and Evelyn and Myrtle Ritchey would battle a wall of rushing water and pray desperately for deliverance from what seemed like inevitable disaster.

people who risked all to help others. And Davis Palmer would appear in answer to their prayers. There was nothing ordinary about that night. Brady's Bend is a quiet country village about 65 miles north of Pittsburgh. Sometimes it's a little too quiet for Davis Palmer's wife, Jean, 59, who grew up in Pittsburgh and considers herself a city person at heart.

"Nothing ever happens in the country," she complains. But Davis (Sec HERO on 8-A) PARTLY SUNNY today, high in the mid-40s. Cloudy tonight and tomorrow. Low in the upper 30s, high in the upper 50s. Full weather report, Page 10-G.

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