Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 1979)
■atd Justice Department sues SEDCO for negligence United Press International HOUSTON — The U.S. Justice De- Ilf,partment, saying SEDCO Inc. was negli- Igent and incompetent in its work on the ^Mpxican oil well that spewed 100 millions of.gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, '^gtheta! Tpesday filed claims seeking $6 million for I ttiinlt | cleanup and other damages. Curtishn||,IpThe claims were phrased so that the l *s season a, [federal government has the option of add- he outsii W Pemargo, the Mexican drilling firm g up their jhat operated the well, and Pemex, 1 die mid-[Mexico’s government-owned oil ave to adn monopoly, could also be sued for damages. )c essfiil atr (additional damages also can be requested ?ad to Ric- of SEDCO. heOwUfi SEDCO supplied the Ixtoc I drilling g. While platform that blew out in the Gulf of i any radici ^ X 1 C0 miles south of the Texas coast Igie offensiijB -'■l would l°wn, as tlfB Houston eK ^IhckisledlS Mosley, k K le brighter sp te, andHatj arterbact fie junior s J made rei]| the Baylor; ^pointed arj everything, I iking n lool -tionasa»|J m the per? ome outstai especially i ‘t this point I ‘ team welJ ' in the ffiel roblemofti he Aggie o i criticized il of scoring j id the teai| i, but said J need to I June 3, spouting “more than 100 million gallons of oil unabated before it was largely brought under control last week. The runaway well is expected to be totally cap- ped within a few days. The Justice Department called offshore oil exploration “ultra-hazardous’ and said SEDCO, an oil equipment leasing firm with land and offshore operations throughout the world that was founded by Gov. Bill Clements, should be responsible for the oil that washed onto Texas beaches during the heighth of the tourism season. SEDCO’s equipment on the Ixtoc I well was “unfit and unsuitable for its intended purpose,” the claim said, and “those in charge of it were incompetent . . . (and) negligent in carrying out their responsibil ity.” After the blowout, it said, SEDCO ne glected to stop or contain the oil discharge and failed to remove the oil from U.S. navigable waters, the 200-mile U.S. fish ing zone or the Texas shoreline. The Justice Department also filed a mo tion asking the court to allow the depart ment to file a separate suit against SEDCO. ' See related story, page 5 The suit was filed 15 minutes before a 10 a.m. deadline set by U.S District Judge Robert O’Conor Jr. SEDCO had asked that a deadline be set for filing of all claims. The Justice Department had planned as late as Monday to file claims for hundreds of millions of dollars against SEDCO as a result of the spill that occurred off Mexico’s Yucatan coast and spread to the Gulf coast of Texas Aug. 9. But after discussions with several fed eral agencies involved, including the Coast Guard and the Commerce Depart ment, it was decided to seek less than $10 million in damages and “other substantial damages to the property of the United States,” sources said. Administration officials said the decision gives them the maximum flexibility to in crease their claims as prolonged litigation continues and the long-term effects of the oil spill can be better assessed. Texas Attorney General Mark White last week filed a state suit asking $10 mil lion from SEDCO for damages for the oil that stained Texas beaches during the peak of the tourist season. Clements, who put his SEDCO hold ings in a blind trust when he ran for gov ernor, has contended the suit is politically motivated. “I still think it’s purely politically motivated,” Clements said of the latest suit. “I’m glad to get another bird in the tree. Jimmy Carter has now joined (Dem ocratic Party leader) Billy Goldberg, At torney General Mark White, and (state AFL-CIO leader) Harry Hubbard. They’re all three twirping the same song. ” SEDCO already faces other claims total ing $350 million. While damage to the Texas shoreline so far has been less than anticipated, cost of the environmental damage from the 18- week-old spill of a Mexican oil rig may not be fully known for years. Fishermen, shrimpers and the Texas state government have filed $350 million in claims against SEDCO and two Mexi can companies that drilled and ran the well. Whether SEDCO’s deal was with Per- margo or Pemex is a critical point in any lawsuit, because the United States is re luctant to consider a lawsuit against the Mexican government or its oil company. Mexican President Jose Lopez Portillo is refusing to help finance the massive cleanup, and his government quickly points to U. S. pollution of its territory from vast industrial wastes dumped over the years into the Mississippi River. Battalion Vol. 73 No. 38 16 Pages Wednesday, October 24, 1979 College Station, Texas USPS 045 360 Phone 845-2611 ,000 share dinner t Bill Moore Day By RICHARD OLIVER Battalion Staff he Bill Moore Day banquet was a n (he Jiedltfeoileepocfge of barbecue, political praises, ng stoppt jiriaos County hierarchy and 1,700 cheer- e by ouri in i’ extras. ^■Vlthough Sen. Moore of Bryan had ex- pec ted 400-500 people, at least 2,000 (showed up at the Brazos Center Tuesday quit c^n&ht to give him their support. m y book lalrhe event, sponsored by the Friends of jf. ^■) lr Bill Moore, included speeches by Texas t to A&M University President Jarvis Miller, the goalChancellor Frank Hubert, A&M , I Consolidated Trustee Bill Fitch and orinedrivp ®h an "College Station Chamber of Com- iliinerce President Judy Rychlik. Lt. Gover- e Penn Stall nor Hobby attended as well, me turnot®^ oore was c l ear ly happy with the large against a „ • i “ T > j n i , ^ yM 1m pleased, he said. I d really only il ‘i | aMpected 400-500 people, so I’m sorry we l |‘ l w don t have more seats. All of this was done , j n without any advertising; we didn’t pub- soim <rm ze th . s at alL » than a ne»| jMoore, who has served in the Texas Se- r for almost 31 years, said he has no tmhe,- ponetca. an, J,ions, fwewanttiH f w0l dd prefer to be where I am than in v the governor’s position,” he said. “Being 0VerS Me dean of the Senate is a much better [position. All the laws have to pass through r Ts, anyway.” IT Moore agreed in part with Texas Gov. Bill Clements’ statement that institutions of higher learning were a waste of the tax payers’ money. Earlier in the week, Clements said learning institutions should “tighten their belts” like all other state agencies. “I don’t think the governor’s statement was too off-base,” he said. “When schools go out and recruit foreign students just to keep a head count, that’s ridiculous. It costs the taxpayer in this state $2,000 apiece just to keep them here.” Hobby, on the other hand, said he be lieved Clements had a bit to learn about Texas’ higher education institutions. “I think that as Gov. Clements gains more familiarity with public higher educa tion in Texas, he’ll reach a better under standing of it,” he said, T.IeJLj^ee the marvelous quality of the public higher education in the state. “I think it’s interesting that if you’ll notice. Gov. Clements’ line item vetoes appropriations were really primarily di rected at higher education, including uni versities in Austin, Galveston and even A&M University here. I hope that as he has more exposure to higher education in Texas, some of these vetoes will be elimi nated. ” Moore also said he feels the biggest :— problem the nation faces right now is infla tion. “The (U.S.) Congress must simply quit spending so much money, he said. “Cheap money drives prices up. We can’t do it and sacrifice national defense, though.” Moore thinks Texas, on the other hand, is doing fine. “Our state is in fine shape,” he said. “We are in good shape financially. We have a ‘pay-as-you-go’ system. We can’t spend money we don’t have. Also, the whole state of Texas is in good shape polit ically.” Moore, in his speech, was confident of his political future as senator. “I have no intention of quitting as long as my health is good and my wife will put up with me,” he said. “I intend to go back and represent the state of Texas and this disfncffe’the best of my ability. ” Bill Fitch, speaking earlier to the % crowd, summed up Moore’s tenure, say ing, “He hasn’t ever had but one job. He’s either stuck in the mud or loyal as hell.” State Sen. Bill Moore, right, and Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby joke during Bill Moore Appreciation Day, an annual fund-raising dinner for the long-time Bryan legislator. About 2,000 people attended the dinner in the Brazos Center Tuesday. Battalion photo by Lee Roy Leschper Jr. Cleaners begins accepting claims for items lost in Thursday fire By DEBBIE NELSON Battalion Staff University Cleaners started taking claims Monday morning for clothes burned in a fire that gutted the building last week, owner Bernie Gessner said Tuesday. The business, at 211 N. Main St. in Col lege Station, will take claims until Dec. 17 and pay them as quickly as possible, Gess ner said. He said the 100-150 people who filed their claims Monday may have to wait three weeks to get reimbursed. To claim reimbursement for his clothes, a customer needs to tell the cleaners his name, address, the day he brought the clothes in to be cleaned, how many gar ments were lost, and their approximate value. Claims should be filed with Univer sity Cleaners at FM 2818 and Southwood, next to the Doux Chene apartment com plex. Gessner said the cleaners had insurance on its equipment, but not on the clothes. Rates on that kind of insurance are too high, he said, unless a cleaners is in a fire-proof building. Authorities had first thought the fire was accidental, but investigators found the fire to be a result of burglary and arson, Gess ner said. He said the fire marshal discov ered that someone entered the cleaners through the back, took some change and a pistol, then set fire to the building. Gessner said he is not obligated to pay customer’s claims because the fire was not caused by negligence on his part. However, Gessner said, he is paying all claims. He could give no estimate of the total value of clothes lost, but the overall loss, excluding the cost of the building, is $75,000-$100,000. Gessner said he expects most people to file claims for lost clothes within the next few weeks. Since 90 percent of the clean ers’ records were saved — including those on the clothes — Gessner expects few false claims. Depreciation of old clothes is the most severe problem anticipated, Gessner said. For example, if someone claims a pair of 2-year-old pants cost $35, he may receive only 40 percent (or $21) because of the age of the pants. Values are determined by the Interna tional Fabric Care Institute Fair Claims Guide, which is used nationally. Gessner said he has received several claims that seem too high. Two students claimed to have lost brand-new $400 suits Wind causes no automatic shutdown they had purchased for interviews. In cases like this, Gessner will tiy to find out where the garments were purchased, to assess the value. “A lot of the lost clothes were purchased locally,” Gessner said, “so they’re fairly easy to substantiate.” There were 250-300 Corps of Cadets uniforms in the shop when it burned — fewer than usual, Gessner said. He said these claims are easily recovered, because the store writes up a list of the people who lost uniforms and gives it to the Military Property Custodian (MFC), which then reissues the uniforms. Gessner he would be interested if the building’s landlord wants to rebuild the cleaners. The fire code for new buildings (the old one was built in 1936) would re quire the cleaners to be built of com pletely non-flammable materials, which would be very expensive. Ride’s safety device may have failed United Press International DALLAS — State Fair of Texas officials said Tuesday the tram ride that mal- ftmetoned Sunday, killing one person and injuring 15, was not designed to shut down automatically if buffeted by high winds. Wayne Gallagher, executive vice presi dent and general manager of the fair, told a news conference the only emergency device to stop the ride is activated when a roller on a gondola leaves a cable. He said investigators will examine the possiblity the emergency device failed Sunday when one gondola — swaying in high winds on the half-mile cable route over the fair’s midway — became jammed as it passed over a supporting post and three other cars slammed into it, dropping two of the cars almost 100 feet down on top of tent booths on the crowded midway. Gallagher said the tram ride — in opera tion since 1964 — was designed to operate in winds up to 36 mph but ride operators must use their judgment in stopping the ride when winds are high. Wind gusts up to 35 mph were reported Sunday. Witnesses blamed those winds for the accident that killed Fred Millard, a 41- year-old Texas Instruments employee, who was hit by one of the falling gondolas. His wife and their two children and a dozen other persons were injured. Three of the injured remained hospitalized Tuesday. Gallagher did not name the wind or any other factor as a cause of the accident. He said an extensive investigation was under way but results may not be available for some time. Scores of investigators converged on the almost quiet fairgrounds Monday, includ ing local and federal government inspec tors. Others were insurance adjusters, fair authorities and representatives of Von Roll Co., manufacturer of the ride. By Monday afternoon, fair officials said, experts had completed visual and photo graphic inspections. They then began the slow process of removing all of the more than 40 gondola cars and inspecting them individually. Meanwhile, an $850,000 lawsuit was filed late Monday against the State Fair and Von Roll, by an attorney representing one of those seriously injured in the acci dent, prompting a district judge to grant a temporary restraining order that directs fair officials not to destroy evidence. Attorneys for the fair, Russell Smith and Jeff Lynch, attended the news conference Tuesday and advised Gallagher against commenting on any aspect of the suit. Gallagher did say that the fair has insur ance. “There is insurance coverage — cer tainly by the contractor, certainly by the fair and maybe by others.” David Peter, a flagpole painter from Austin, scales the staff in front of Texas A&M University’s Academic Building for its paint job, which is done every two years. Peter has been painting flagpoles for about seven years. Last week he painted the one in front of the Administration Building. Battalion pBoto \vy Lynn Blanco United Way reaches 38% of $75,000 campus goal Campus United Way contributions and pledges totaled $28,584 as of Friday, said Don Hellriegel, campus chairman for Brazos County United Way. This is 38 percent of the $75,000 goal. “Our level of weekly contributions has substantially dropped off,” Hellriegel said in a letter to campus area coordinators and unit representatives. “1 hope we can have a surge in contributions this next week.” Carter given authority to develop gas-ration plan *v • 77_ 1 ft 1 ocf Wrlnqrlq\/ \»/qc crii United Press International WASHINGTON — The House Tuesday passed and sent to the White House a bill allowing President Car ter to develop a standby gasoline and diesel fuel rationing plan, but requir ing the approval of Congress to actu ally implement it. The bill, which passed the Senate 77-18 last Wednesday, was given final approval by the House, 301-112. The legislation was worked out by a House-Senate conference committee between differing versions of the bill. Despite months of wrangling and bitterness, the bill’s final passage was relatively uneventful. Many Republi cans, as well as Democrats, voted for it.