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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 1, 1981)
Page 6 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1981 5 Lawsuit filed to delay testing of private rocked United Press International HOUSTON — Matagorda Peninsula landowners concerned about their liability in the event of a misfiring private rocket have filed a lawsuit to delay the testing, and an official involved said the action will cause the launch site to be moved. An attorney for the landowners late Monday said nine plaintiffs to the suit filed in Matagorda County District Court last week would meet in Bay City with officials of Space Services Inc. of Houston and GCH, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif, to discuss the problem. No date has been set for that meeting. Whatever the result of the talks, the Percher- on Project — which is openly cheered by several of the lawsuits plaintiffs — has suffered its first adversity. SSI President David Hannah Jr. of Houston said a test launch of the 55-foot, liquid-fuel rocket would be put back to early August. Earlier Monday he said the move from Mata gorda Peninsula down the coast to Matagorda Island was imminent and that the two companies would not contest the lawsuit. “We didn’t want to make an issue out of it if we could find an alternate site. As it is, it is a two- week delay. It would have taken longer to go to court,” he said. A state district court hearing was scheduled for July 7, but landowners’ lawyer G.P. Hardy III of Houston said the hearing would not be needed because something would be resolved before that date. GCH officials have requested a meet ing with the landowners, he said. “They (SSI and GCH) have about $25 million third-party insurance,” Hardy said. “That may or may not be enough. How do you determine how much is enough? How long is a piece of string?” The companies hope to be the first private interests to carry satellites into orbit. Except for one German company, only governments have been in the rocket business. The chances of a misfire causing an accident are extremely slim, the companies say. Several stationary firings of the boosters — with the rock ets in place — will be made prior to launch. UPI learned the Matagorda Island launch pad will be built on the land of Dallas oilman Toddie Lee Wynne Sr., but Wynne said by phone he had not given final approval. “If I would talk about working out a proposal with them, I would work out an agreement (on the liability),” Wynne said. He said he backed the project TOO percent' and felt the Bay City residents who filed suit had “huilt up straw houses to knock down. Part-owner Bert L. Huebner, a Bay City lawyer who is John’s second cousin, said the other owners — three of the nine plaintiffs are named Huebner — did not know' of the rocket plan. “I first heard about it on the news,” Bert Huebner said Monday. "I first thought it was funny. Then I thought it was a great idea. I’m pulling for them.” Both then the “12 or so partowners began calling each other. Some were mad; some like the attorney wanted to make sure they would not Ik? liable in case of a misfire and accident. “It’s an extremely dangerous undertaking. No one approached us in any manner showing insur- C ance or finuiujul responsibility, Huebner! And I know from practical law isthatifso thing goes wr«tg, or if the rocket hitstheS* Texas Project er an oil rig, you can rest assure the land ownkrs are going to he named lawsuit,” he sid. The South Texas Project is a nuclearre»Ho\ being built nlxiut (30 miles northeast ofthek. hal Sif© .in< “So I flew ntv plane onto the peninsulauen talked to the |i^ople working at the launch mss They were all young guys in their 20s i 1 eouldn t help me he said. ir m Hannah said the lawsuit hit him “outot'nde blue." ■ (.j-ty "Right now we re staking out the landonVion gorda Island for the concrete slab and weTIk l it poured this week. j avt Texas Briefs United Press International DALLAS — Senate Armed Ser vices Committee Chairman John Tower has said a proposed Washington memorial to Vietnam veterans should not only honor the war dead and but also remind politicians of who is to blame for losing the war. Tower made the comments Monday in a speech at a luncheon for the Vietnam Veterans Memo rial Fund, which is seeking to raise $7 million to finance the monu ment. Tower said the proposed memorial should serve as a remin der that the 2.7 million veterans of the war served well, and that blame for losing the war rests with “the actions of any number of my colleagues (in the Senate).” “As a U. S. Senator, I will never again vote to commit American boys to military action that we are not dedicated to bring to the ear liest possible conlusion,” Tower said. The monument -— a 10-foot peaked wall of black granite that would bear the name of each of the 57,692 servicemen killed in the 11-year war — is scheduled for dedication on Veterans Day, 1982. Fund founder Jan Scruggs said the organization has collected $1.8 million from private contribu tions, including $1 million from the American Legion. He said there were 3,381 Texans among the war dead. Errors blamed United Press International DALLAS — Computer errors that lead to overpayments and du plicate payments by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas are partly responsible for substantial rate in creases for some employee groups, a state insurance official says. William P. Daves, chairman of the State Board of Insurance, said Monday the overpayments and duplicate payments inflated the firm’s cost of doing business and contributed to Blue Cross’ $45 million loss last year. Insurance companies generally base their rates on how much they paid out in claims the previous year. The Insurance Board does not regulate rates for group medical policies. State insurance examiners have been conducting a special examination of the com pany’s books for two months. 4 Oil firms cited United Press International DALLAS — The Department of Energy has served notices of possible violations against four Houston oil firms it said exceeded maximum legal prices by a total of $7.2 million in the resale of crude oil during 1980. The notices, announced Mon day by DOE, are the first steps in department administrative sanc tions. The DOE alleges the firms exceeded ceiling prices on crude oil sold before price controls were removed in January. Included in separate notices of probable violations were Thomas Petroleum Products, Kelly Trad ing Corp., TEG Petroleum Corp. and Alma Energy Inc., all crude oil reselling firms that generally act as middlemen with producers, refiners and other resellers. Production down United Press International AUSTIN — The Railroad Com mission reports that Texas crude oil production declined during April by more than 3 million bar rels from the same month in 1980. Production during April of this year totaled 74,062,276 barrels, compared to April 1980 produc tion of77,376,009 barrels and pro duction in March of this year of 77,400,736 barrels, the commis sion said Monday. April production averaged 2,468,742 barrels of crude daily, down from 2,579,200 barrels a day from the same month last year. SAFEWAY WIN UP TO *1,000! PLA1 ■ Viet loss not vet s Wi ACCEPT UDSA FOOD STAMP COUPONS! EXPRESS CHECKSTAND IS OPEN 8 AM UNTIL MIDNIGNl HOLE FRYERS Manor House USDA Grade 'A', LIMIT 3 INFVH/bN FIGHTER . ... 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