Dayton Daily News from Dayton, Ohio • 5

DAYTON DAILY NEWS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1 994 a 5A World Russia's silence on oil snill A ia -a A is born or old-line instincts By Lee Hockstader WASHINGTON POST MOSCOW An editor in the desolate Russian Arctic city of Usinsk was asked this week why his newspaper had failed to blow the whistle on a major oil spill this month just north of town. "We didn't want to generate bad publicity for our (region)." Oleg Sultanov said. This summer, when the government decided to clear residents of a village on the outskirts of Moscow out of their homes, no one was told why and no one was consulted. Federal and local authorities decreed that the land should be used for an enormous, Disneyland-style amusement park. And so it would be without any ifs, ands, buts or public hearings.

Nearly a decade after the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, "It's sad that our officials no ticed the catastrophe only after the Americans blew the whistle; the influential daily Izvestia said. Said Nurlan Urazbayev, genera) manager of Open Radio, a Moscdw station: "There is still a tendency to silence what they don't want ti release, and this is one of the amples. It's still instinctive. There are no government instructions oj-restrictions. Specialists say Russia has thou sands of oil spills and leaks each year.

The environmental grouj Greenpeace estimates the annQM total of crude oil spilled at up to million tons, or more than 350 mil lion barrels, and another groupi the Socio-Ecological Union, putnt at 10 percent to 12 percent of output, or about 30 million Either figure would make Russia by far the leading oil spiller in Che; world. launched his celebrated campaign of glasnost to loosen the shackles on information imposed by Soviet communism, old habits of secrecy and autocracy are still dying hard across much of the land. That was the case this week when Russians had to find out from the U.S. Department of Energy that a major oil spill had fouled the ultra-fragile tundra near Usinsk. Their own federal government, which had known of the spill at least since Oct.

4, had said not a word. Russian officials insisted the magnitude of the spill was not nearly as great as Washington had suggested. Some said the oil slicks in the Pechora River north of Usinsk were no worse than those found in the Moscow River in the heart of the capital. But that was small comfort and hardly the point. ASSOCIATED PRESS Russian oil workers gather oil 37 miles north of Usinsk, site of a major oil spill this month i I Russia, West disagree on severity of oil spill LA-Z-BOY SIX MONTHS SAME AS CASH! What a great time to make hour home comfortable for the holidays, plus get six months with 0 interest! Hurry in today! WlB Approved Credit USINSK, Russia (AP) On a tiny, unnamed river in Russia's Far Jforth, the water flowed black Friday, thick with a 4-inch coating of oil, dirt and half-melted snow.

Two men in a motorboat scraped the surface with spades, moving the oily mess to the center of the river as a wet snow fell. Others pushed the oil downstream with wires, where still others directed it toward a filter from which the water almost clean "finally emerged. While the workers waded through oil slicks in the forest and tundra, shoveling gallons of oil, Russian officials rejected claims by Western officials that the oil spill from an old and leaky pipeline is an environmental catastrophe. Estimates on the size of the spill, which occurred about 6 miles south of the Arctic Circle, vary widely. U.S.

Energy Department officials in Washington said it ould range from 4.5 million gallons to more than 80 million gallons. Yekaterina Murova, a spokes-Woman for Russia's Ministry for Emergency Situations, said it was nearly 9 million gallons. By comparison, the Exxon Val-dez spilled 11 million gallons of oil after running aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989. "Who knows how much has spilled? It's impossible to measure this kind of thing," said cleanup worker Munir Galeyev, a big man with a beard, as he stood in an oil-covered pool. Galeyev and his colleagues are well-diggers who were called in to work in a small tributary of the Kolva River north of Usinsk, a town of 70,000 people 1,000 miles northeast of Moscow.

For this and previous spills, all available factory workers from the area have been brought in to help, officials said. Many of the cleanup workers, however, complained they have not been paid for months. Cleanup efforts have been hampered by steady snowfall and shortening daylight hours, as well as by the poor condition of the 20-year-old pipeline, which is full of tiny holes that leak from time to time. The Komineft oil company has promised to replace the 31-mile pipeline, which has leaked millions of gallons of oil in several accidents since 1988. 1 Sale 299 La-Z-Boy traditional high leg recliner with stylish cane-woven side panels, diamond tufted 1 Sale $359 La-Z-Bov Chaise I back.

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La-Z-Boy Chaise Rocker or Wall Recliner with a bustle back and stitched fabric detalis. Beautifully styled traditional wing back La-Z-Boy1 recliner featuring rolled arms and wood finished cabriole legs. UNITED NATIONS AP) The United States asked the Security Council on Friday to lift the U.N. arms embargo on Bosnia unless Bosnia's Serbs agree to an international plan to end the war. U.S.

Ambassador Madeleine Albright introduced the resolution, which would give the rebel Bosni-an Serbs six months to sign the peace plan for Bosnia or face the rearming of their enemies, the Bosnian government. "I think you know that this is not a resolution that is supported by all the members of the Security Council, but there are members who do support it and there are members who understand the necessity of moving the process forward and trying to find some resolution to the issue," Albright said. The text of the proposed resolution was not immediately released by U.S. diplomats. The peace plan devised by the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Germany calls upon the Serbs to reduce their holdings in Bosnia to 49 percent from the 70 percent they now control.

The Muslim-led Bosnian government would control 51 percent. It has accepted the plan. The Serbs have rejected it. The war began in April 1992 when the Bosnian Serbs rebelled against a move by Bosnia's Croats and Muslims to secede from the former Yugoslavia. An estimated 200,000 people have been killed or are missing.

France and Britain have opposed ending the arms embargo. The two countries are the largest contributors of troops to the U.N. peacekeeping force in Bosnia and have threatened to withdraw their soldiers if the embargo is lifted. Russia, a traditional ally of the Serbs, also has opposed lifting the embargo. The Security Council's president, British Ambassador Sir David Hannay, declined to comment on the proposal, calling it "a highly sensitive issue." The United States has said the embargo prevents the Bosnian government from defending itself against the better-equipped Serbs.

Bosnian Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey welcomed the proposed resolution, saying there was little else to do to bring peace. The proposal to allow arms shipments to government forces follows a stunning government offensive this week in northwest Bosnia. Government troops swept through up to 140 square miles of Serb territory and forced as many Sale s699 Sale s599 83" classic La-Z-Boy traditional living room sofa with a camel back and sleigh arms. Expertly tailored with knife-edge welting and deep skirt. 87" La-Z-Boy full reclining sofa features casual styling with a channel pillow back.

Gold-spewing volcano may start rush of prospectors Save Sale "699 on La-Z-Boy Modulars La-Z-Boy Leather Recliner. Button tufted wing back with glove soft leather wherever your body touches, vinyl on sides and back. Seating groups with crowd pleasing comfort. Available with full reclining ends, sleep sofa, and built-in table and drawer options. BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) Officials fear a rush of gold-hungry prospectors to a volcano in southern Colombia that a U.S.

scientist claims is spewing a pound of gold each day. About 45 pounds of gold from the Galeras Volcano become embedded in surrounding rock each year, according to the study by Fraser Goff of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. But a Colombian expert claims the volcano releases much less gold and in fragments so small they are of no commercial value. 'l fear that when this gets out, aH of Pasto will go running up the mountain," said Libaniel Casas, referring to the city of 350,000 at ghe base of the volcano. Casas is director of the government rnining and geology center in Narino state, where the volcano is.

Colombian National Radio broadcast the U.S. study Friday. Access to the volcano has been restricted since it erupted Jan. 13, 1993, killing nine people, including six scientists taking samples from its crater. Casas disputed GofTs figures, saying the volcano only released a pound of gold on days it erupted.

"The volcano erupted five times in 1993," Casas said. Hector Bolanos, a spokesman for the governor's office in Narino state, said: "It's great news that the volcano is releasing gold, but it could also cause an invasion of people." 'Quality home furnishings' New Extended Hour Now Open Saturday 10-tt Dally 10-9 Sunday 12-5 LA-Z-BOY 2 Gat JlocatiotU SOUTH m. 741 Jvtt North of Bft. 711 493-0170 GALLERY NORTH 1-70 Rt. 202' OM Troy nin Next to K-ate rt ZlMtOft 90 Days Same As Cash.