THE BATTALION
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1979
Page 7
Refinery may have unusual cancer rate
United Press International
BEAUMONT — A spot survey by
k | the National Cancer Institute
Vk rv,, i suggests workers at the local Mobil
1/1 ^ ^ Corp. refinery may suffer an ab-
‘"'■'Vll i normal cancer death rate, but re-
Rj searchers say the statistics require
ats °n. detailed study.
ijstody ofC'f j Officials said a research error in
^no were ({,1 { the study, described as “hypothesis
a d somegmt g j generating,” omitted Mobil from an
^pealscoiuJ i
sentence®' !
;son Luclifo,,
urder ofw'
earlier report naming Texaco Inc.
and Gulf Oil Corp. facilities in Port
Arthur as possible high cancer risk
sites.
The error had involved dividing
findings for the same Beaumont re
finery between Mobil and the refin
ery’s former owner. Magnolia Petro
leum Co., which merged with
Mobil in 1959, officials said.
NCI researchers — who have
checked a cross-section of death cer-
tificates at 3,105 American re
fineries and petrochemical plants
between 1947 and 1977 — surveyed
198 death certificates at the 2,200-
worker Mobil refinery.
They said they found five brain
and central nervous system cancers,
which they said was about three
times the expected rate among all
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Officials investigate scheme
that smuggled aliens by air
United Press International
SAN DIEGO — U S. officials
'ted theneitj ! today began separate investigations
home ini int0 an aerial alien-smuggling
I J scheme allegedly masterminded by
I f a U.S. Customs Service pilot and a
Federal Aviation Administration air
traffic controller, both of whom are
currently imprisoned in Tijuana,
Mexico.
The pair combined their knowl
edge of law enforcement, air traffic
patterns and radar monitoring sys
tems along the California-Mexico
border to avoid detection, according
to Mexican Federal Judicial Police
in Tijuana, Mexico.
Mexican citizens were charged
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“It is our understanding that
the Federal District Attorney
has 72 hours to file charges,”
Garvis said. “At this moment, to
our knowledge, no formal
charges have been filed by the
Mexicans. ”
a rarely used dirt airstrip near Te-
cate, Mexico, to the Los Angeles
, suburb of Torrance, Mexican au
thorities said.
The pair made as many as four
flights a week in a small airplane re
nted from Brown Field near San
Diego, the officials said. It was not
known how long the operation had
been in operation.
Charles R. Gregore, 33, a Cus
toms Service pilot whose job was to
sight and chase planes smuggling
drugs across the border, and Ronald
L. Anderson, an FAA air traffic con
troller assigned to Miramar Ap
proach Control near San Diego,
were arrested near the Tecate air
field.
No arrests,
but killing
‘solved’
United Press International
I SAN ANTONIO — Homicide de
fectives Wednesday said they have
^“solved” the death of a Holmes
^High School sophomore they claim
7 was fatally beaten by members of a
!rival clique. However, no arrests
,' can be made until a prosecutor and
l medical examiner resolve a con-
-troversy over cause of death.
£ Officers found William “Billy”
; Barnett, 15, lying dead in a yard
r near his home moments after two
[-witnesses said they saw six other
y youths who shouted “redneck”
C knock him to the ground and kick
1* him in the head.
jj Detective Joe Oosterveen blamed
£the attack on tension between two
C social cliques of “kickers” and “pot
heads’ in the school,
j* But Dr. Ruben Santos, Bexar
£ County Medical Examiner, ruled
C “death by natural causes,” saying
£ the dead youth suffered from a con-
■ genital aneurysm and that the blows
to the head the boy suffered were
not sufficient to have killed a
healthy person.
“We ll consider the medical ex
aminer’s ruling along with all the
other facts in making our determina
tions,” said Charles Conaway of the
district attorney’s office.
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Also taken into custody was Hugo
Sanchez of Tijuana, who was iden
tified as Anderson’s brother-in-law.
He is accused of using his home to
house Mexican citizens awaiting the
flights into the United States.
The arrests, made by Mexican au
thorities Saturday night, were not
made public in the United States
until Tuesday. Both Gregore and
Anderson, being held in the Baja
California State Penitentiary in
Tijuana, were off-duty at the time of
their arrests, FAA and the Customs
Service officials said today.
San Diego U.S. Attorney Michael
Walsh said it was premature to dis
cuss what role U.S. authorities
might take in the case.
Walsh said, however, “If they are
prosecuted in Mexico, they’re still
subject to a subsequent prosecution
in the United States.”
Mexico has no extradition treaty
with the United States although
Mexican officials have occasionally
turned over prisoners to U.S. au
thorities at the border.
While an official said the U.S.
Customs Service would also investi
gate the matter, he was only vaguely
familiar with the case.
“Our service is, naturally, con
ducting an investigation,” he said.
The FAA is investigating the mat
ter but, “Until we do, there isn’t
much more we can say about it,” Al
“If they are prosecuted in
Mexico, they’re still subject to a
subsequent prosecution in the
United States.”
Americans, and 22 lung cancer
deaths, about twice the expected
rate.
“We certainly want to know if
there is a problem,” said Don
Maroldy, Mobil’s labor relations
manager in New York City. “The
study was termed a tentative
hypothesis and seems to lead to the
necessity for further study.
Although Mobil officials said the
survey covered a small sample,
Maroldy said, “We view the find
ings as a signpost saying maybe
something is at the end of the road.
We’d like to know if anything, in
fact, is there.”
Maroldy said he expected Mobil
to supply cancer institute re
searchers with detailed health rec
ords and other data needed to de
termine actual dangers and “we will
probably be meeting soon with NCI
to discuss methodology.”
Garvis, the FAA’s Western Region
spokesman in Los Angeles, said
Wednesday.
The FAA has been in contact with
the U.S. Consulate’s office in
Tijuana, which reported that the \
case was turned over to the Mexican j
Federal District Attorney’s office in
Tijuana Tuesday, he said.
“It is our understanding that the
Federal District Attorney has 72
hours to file charges,” Garvis said.
“At this moment, to our knowledge,
no formal charges have been filed by
the Mexicans.”
Old Fashioned
Republican Rally!
REPUBLICAN PARTY
OF BRAZOS COUNTY
Thursday, October 26th 6:00 p.m.
at the New Headquarters
813A Texas Ave.
College Station
(Next to Pasta’s Pizza)
Barbecue and Bluegrass Music
Tickets: $5.00
Call 696-0682 for Information
Paid lor by N. A. McNiel, chairman.
pleash'~
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Texaco and Gulf already have
submitted additional data for NCI to
finish its study. Final results were
said to be years in the future.
NCI researcher Terry Thomas
said tentative findings were that
among facilities surveyed “observed
numbers of deaths are significantly
greater than expected for cancers of
the digestive and respiratory sys
tems, skin and brain.”
The research report said factors
other than occupational exposure
may contribute to high cancer death
rates.
“For instance, mortality rates for
melanoma (a type of cancerous
tumor) are higher in Texas than for
the U.S. and may account for at
least part of the excess seen here,”
the report said.
“Further studies are necessary to
support and clarify these findings.”
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The Navy operates over half the
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So our training is the broadest and
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The Navy also has other
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The Navy. When it comes to
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