The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 7

The News Tribune Monday August 19 1996 B3 irjpa'ft ffogjnrG Big power outage may be just a sign of problems to come Future uncertain as deregulation begins New York may be center of debate that includes Seattle-Tacoma region By Nortmitsu Onlslil The New York Times ByTknOoMan The New Yxk Times for (heap power After a long wet winter that filled the hydroelectric dams of the Northwest and in the middle of a hot summer that was straining hir conditioners across the Southwest heavy loads of electricity were being shipped relatively long distances over lines boom officials say have not htn mtaqiwtriy mainfamwil Near northern border with Washington a 600000-volt transmission line known as the Big Eddy sagged onto a tree and shorted out at As engineers at BPA struggled to bring the line back up two other 600000-volt lines in the area apparently became overloaded by power displaced from the Big Eddy and shut down as welL Bonneville officials said they had thought at the time they would be system relies now on voluntary cooperation among the utilities' -Cliaifea Curtis deputy energy secretary NEW YORK- Bill Mulcahy a retired city firefighter was enjoying the warmth of a recent sunny morning in Ids back yard in Queens His fether-inJaw sat at a table under an umbrella and his niece lazily dangled her toes in a shallow plastic pool This Mulcahy said was the good life Then a jet suddenly appeared in the sky shattering quiet retirement The plane I over Jamaica Bay and soared above the two-story house in Rockaway Beach the roar of its engines smothering conversation That was from Runway Mulcahy yelled his eyes resentful and glued to the plane as it flew toward the Atlantic had to make almost a 180-degree turn over Jamaica Bay to go over Most people living near Kennedy and La Guardia airports might shrug off the din after a while But in a city filled with neighborhood agitators and block revolutionaries Mulcahy 61 belongs to a particular Queens subculture: those who hate the airports but refuse to move They memorize the designation of each runway and publish newsletters against the air- with a feutiness that puts them on a name basis in Borough Hall at the Federal Aviation Administration offices in Washington and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey atop the World Trade Center in 4 Associated Press more than 100 A Jet taking off usually using a standard measurement SAN FRANCISCO -As a handful of electrical Knee in Oregon sagged in the summer heat last weekend and began shutting down in a chain of short rircuita that blacked out er to more than 4 million people in nine states there was a brief telephone call engineers at the federal power authority in Oregon neglected to make It remains undear whether that call to warn the Northern California utility company that was buying some of Oiegonk electricity about problems on the lines would have averted what soon became the second major power blackout in six weeks on the largest regional power grid But even so the momentary lack of coordination between big utility companies has emerged as a warn ing to energy officials and utility executives about the vul-i of a hum regional grid that is moving quickly toward an uncharted future of deregulation and competition The system relies now on voluntary cooperation among the utilities said Deputy Energy Secretary Charles Curtis With the advent of deregulation he added is a concern that the voluntary cooperation and the informal structures that underlie the reliability of ths system are going to come under The coining deregulation of California $20 billion electrical power industry win effectively begin to split the generation and transmission of a a chain of red out pew- on people in a brief tele- Their critics see them at best as gadflies and at worst as conspiracy-mongers whose identities depend on the i Noise protesters are against the Seattle-Tacoma port which plans to add a third runway and the new Denver International Airport which opened last year But the New York area where one-third of the airplane-noise affected people in the nation live seems the epicenter of the debate Relief comes for only a few and then for only two weeka near the end of the summer when the US Open prompts the routing of flights around the National Tbnnia Center in Flushing Meadows But moving flight patterns out of one neighborhood only puts them in another The Fort Authority estimated in 1994 that 211000 people or more than 10 percent of Queens residents were living dose enough to the borough's two mqjor airports that the average ground noise level from planes was above 66 decibels A jet taking off usually registers more than 100 decibels using the standard measurement for the relative loudness of a sound Some residents live so near La Guardia that the average ground noise level around their homes (between 30 and 40 decibels during quiet moments) readies more than 75 decibels the equivalent of a car alarm But most of those affected by jet noise at the two New Ybrk airports endure between 65 and 70 decibels enough for many schools to have qualified for funds to soundproof their walls and windows Houses near the airports stand a stonefc throw from runways Jets land and take off as if a few feet above dows La Guardia disturbs more people but the summer raises the noise to its peak at Kennedy International travel increases Jets need mod power when the weather is hot win- dows are open The situation begs the question: Why do these -people stay? Why should they move asks Allan Greene the podiatrist who has lived in a twotory house in Howard Beach since 1964 There are old hous- es here built before the airport was ever Greene who dedicates three hours a day to' itpliTy nnit ajrid mjjfjpply hnrannit riaaf in his left ear in 1989 The doctors claimed it was he said' They know I tried to get them to say it was aircraft noise but they commit Anti-noise forces organized in the last decade after the deregulation of the airline industry iit1 1978 led to a boom in flights Built in the prO- peller age airports were overwhelmed Only one Denver has opened since 1974 People began to regard noise as a form of pollution that might reduce the value of their homes and harm their health Arline Bronzaft a former professor of psychology with the City University of New Yoitwho has studied the a- fects of noise on learning and has worked with -the Queens anti-noise group said no me has been willing to finance comprehensive study' of airport noise This attitude toward the impact of airport! -noise now is comparable to the attitude toward cigarette smoking 30 years ahe said Three years ago Mulcahy cofounded Sane Aviation For Everyone Flanked by a former Roman Catholic priest from Rego Park and a septuagenarian podiatrist from Howard Beach he has waged a relentless sometimes colorful campaign against airplane noise in news releases mid marches on public access television -and the Internet The group is part of an increasingly sophisticated netwwk of noise protesters who fax and e-mail one another studies and bills relating to their cause From Seattle to Sydney Australia they share strategies on how to lobby politicians and battle airportsairiines and government aviation officials become so involved because every rock you turn over you find something said Jack Saporito the director of the Alliance of Residents Concerning OTIare International Airport in Chicago This has become a full-time job I used to have a small marketing company and gone straight to He and the others view themselves as crusaders against a neglected form of pollution: noise They say they fight on behalf of apathetic neighbors They want fewer nighttime landings and takeoffs or higher-altitude routes over their roofe or different paths altogether able to bring the aystem under control without consequences for their customers in the Southwest Dennis Eyre the executive director of the Western Systems Coordinating Council the regional agency that oversees the reliability of the grid said there was Bonneville Bhould have alerted its chief customer to the south Pacific Gas A Electric Officials at that utility insisted they could have avoided the blackout if they had been warned Within an hour three more transmission lines overloaded and shut down followed by the McNary hydroelectric station on the Columbia River which was supposed to help stabilize the grid in case of such emergencies Backup support for the thinly stretched grid would normally have come from a dam just upriver at The Dalles Ore on that Saturday afternoon it happened to be mostly shut down in a routine step to pro-: and sock tect the run of chinook i Water-safety and on Lake Tapps Here are some of the water safe- as move is being closely watched in the 40 other states that are considering or planning the breakup of their utility monopolies The arrangement is supposed to be a boon to consumers who now pay almost 60 percent above the national average for their Consumers will eventually to choose who supplies their electricity even as big utility companies continue to own the power lines Many analysts say the plan which is to take effect in January 1998 will serve as a model for deregulation around the country But it is also an arrangement that will involve a much more complicated system of energy transactions among newly competing companies one some officials fear could undermine incentives for the maintenance expansion and coordinated operation of the power grid itself already having some said Randy Hardy the chief executive officer of the Bonneville Power Administration the federal power-marketing agency that operate part of the (prid we're moving toward a deregulated marketplace where right now you could have little or no incentive for the utilities to invest in their transmission systems a risky situation to be While engineers continue to run elaborate computer models in an efibrt to to determine the precise causes of the power failure that began Aug 10 with a short circuit on a transmission line near the Columbia River the officials have assembled a general picture of the problems the episode exposed Its backdrop is one that has become familiar throughout the West in recent years as pressure from ratepayers regularity changes and community opposition to the construction of new generating plants and transmission fines have led utility companies to hunt farther afield lowed on Lake Tapps after sunset or before sunrise A person must be 16 years old to operate a personal watercraft illegal for a personal wa- tercraft to be operated in a reckless manner such as weaving through congested traffic area or jumping wakes Personal watercraft and boats must be licensed and numbered If considered reckless to op erate a boat or personal watercraft while under the influence of any intoxicating liquor or drug sonal watercraft over 8 mph you must travel counterclockwise keeping the land on the right-hand or starboard side of the vessel Any boat under 26 feet long must have a legal personal flotation device (life vest) for each person aboard and one fire extinguisher No one can operate a personal watercraft such as a Jet Ski without a personal flotation device and a fire extinguisher No personal watercraft are al enforced by the Pierce County Sheriffs Department and the Bon-ney Lake Police Department: People who drive vessels with engines over 10 horsepower must be 16 yean old or have a parent or guardian in the boat A 5-mph speed limit is required fin-all boats or personal watercraft within 100 feet of swimmers or other vessels or within 200 feet of the shoreline When driving a boat or per salmon covered by the Endangered SpedesAct A minute later the power surges forced the shutdown of the Pacific Intertie the main power artery between the Northwest and California Its collapse caused other generating plants to shut down across CaUfomia The immediate steps taken by energy officials to try to restore the reliability were straightforward: Power flows on the Intertie are now being held to almost 40 percent below the capacity an emergency tree-trimming program was begun and Bonneville agreed to report any future problems on its 600000-volt lines The investigation continues But energy officials utility executives and others suggested that regardless of the problems uncovered answers would need to be found to address a broader set of issues involving the reliability of the grid in a deregulated market for power is just a hint of to come if we strengthen the transmission said Karl Stahlhopf the vice president for power delivery issues at the Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto Calif Gibbs said But many Lake Tapps users dart know the rules of the road some are reckless and some are drunk less than 10 percent of boaters on Lake Tapps nave ever taken a (boating safety) said Voiles training supervisor of the de-partmentk marine services division of them have a chie' that they are violating boating regula? tinrr the spring water levels are by summer Puget Power tire lake to store water for powengenerating purposes After La- the company begins to lower level again making recreation hazardous because iff stumps reservoir bottom County has grown more have come to Lake Tapps County LL Larry Lake Tapps Continued from B1 People playing on Lake Tapps still need to observe watercraft etiquette speed limits and other regulations he said not fun when too worried about whatfs going added Ken Rolph a Lake Thpps boater from Covington Lake Tapps also is dangerous because there are too many rowdy boaters said personal watercraft user Brian Martin of Edgewood He said he was sitting on a watercraft in a 6-mph zone and a boat too created a wake that cradled his craft against shore rocks State and local officials say Lake Tapps has become me of the most used lakes in the state hot summer days don't know of a busier lake in the state" including Lake Washington Pierce County Sgt Sherm Voiles said Tapps is our number one priority in terms of boating The lake is about 3ft miles wide and 6 nules long much smaller than Tjk Washington a man-made reservoir that collects White River water for a Puget Sound Power Light Co hydropower prqject Ijka Tapps Fire District 22 has an aid boat and answers calls for help on shout 90 percent of the lake Wakefield said the department has responded to three head-iijury accidents the lake in the past two months had more (serious injuries) this year than in the last couple of he said the hotter weather had too many head injuries this year Individual personal watercraft users are especially vulnerable he said Still Puget Power officials say accident statistics the company collects show Lake Thpps is especially dangerous for the thousands of Leschi Continued from B1 msHEnrjjEGtrs boaters and swimmers who use it summer every summer think boat accidents have said Kristen Wap-pler of the power company Unofficial totals of serious boating accidents from News Tribune files show three this year one last year one in 1992 and two in 1991 seven serious boat ot personal watercraft accidents in six years In the past dozen years there have been three boating-related fatalities on Lake Thpps according to Susan Zemek of the state Deportment of Parks and Recreation If the sheriffs department believes an emerging problem Puget Power wants to cooperate in stopping it Wappler said For example the company would be interested in winking on setting speed limits or increasing boater education she said I -aka Tapps has many bays and channels uid more than 50 miles of shoreline It has two public boat launches seven private community launches and thousands of residential launching areas Voiles said The lake is heavily used by thousands of Pierce County residents and South King County people in the During too low has filled bor Day the lake on the As King boaters Pierce i BSESEATOCKI school year the Puyallup share of the state apportionment was $3674 for every regular full-time student The district got extra money for students in vocational programs The new cash could increase Chief plumed $76 milium budget by 28 percent Rudolph said shell use the money to increase teacher salaries At Chief Leechi beginning teachers make only $17200 a year several thousand dollars less than teachers in Washington public schools Over the years tiw tribe tried several times to convince Thcoma School District officials topass on the state money earmarked for public schools But for various reasons no agreement was readied Now the new school is about to open within the boundaries of the Puyallup district where officials have been negotiating the proposed agreement for about a year Similar pacta exist elsewhere in the state out the schools involved are much smsller than Chief Leschi The Quileuta Tribal School in La-Push gets state money through the Quillayute Valley School District in Clallajn County The Paschal Sherman Indian School in Omsk gets money through the Omsk School District in Okanogan County But Chief Leschi remains an independent entity with ita own school board and employees In that sense under the proposed pact Chief Leschi is similar to a publicly funded charter school The Puyallup district will get $500000 to monitor the contract for the first year said Ibny Apoetle the district! director of administrative services wanted this to be sere cost iv Apostle said "We are not going to deplete our resources to manage it" The agreement means all Chief Leschi students also would be Puyallup School District students The district would apply for state money on behalf or every Chief Leschi pupil Bloat of that money then would be passed on to Chief Leschi But the district would retain several hundred dollars per pupil to cover administrative costs Apdstle said Specifically Chief Leschi will get $3064 for every regular full-time student and $3499 for students enrolled in vocational programs In contrast during the 1996-96 a ft (206) all Pacific Coast Clinical Coordinators Inc (PC3) STOBDV Are you or someone you care about suffering from the following: Progressive memory loss Changes in behavior Changes In personality A research study is being conducted to test an investigational medication for dementia of the Alzheimer's type For more Information call Andrea In Tacoma HORRIS JQUALI MYLAR SUN SHADE SALE! 383-3537 1 1316 MwOci LutfWf Jr Why TScoim Celebrating 40 Ycm Quick Cotnleoiu Service 472-8920 5225 South Tacoma Wav 4 IM.