Malpas: concentrate strengths
says: "The businesses of the other companies in the Halcon SD Group will continue as will its interest in Oxiteno S. A. Brazil. The sale of Halcon's interest in Oxirane allows us to concentrate our management and technical strengths in research, development, engineering, and commercialization of processes and catalysts for the worldwide chemical industry. Halcon SD Group will continue aggressively to seek opportunities for Halcon SD to develop technology." •
Solomons countersues in textbook case Among the latest developments in the Morrison and Boyd/Solomons textbook plagiarism case, Solomons and his publisher, John Wiley & Sons, have filed counterclaims against Morrison, Boyd, and their publisher, Allyn & Bacon, alleging unfair competitive practices and violations of antitrust laws, and asking $3 million triple damages. Emeritus professors Robert T. Morrison and Robert N. Boyd of New York University and Allyn & Bacon sued organic chemistry professor T. W. Graham Solomons of the University of South Florida, Tampa, and publisher Wiley, in December 1978, claiming that Solomons had written his book "Organic Chemistry" by copying from Morrison and Boyd's organic text. After trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Morris E. Lasker ruled that Solomons had not plagiarized from Morrison and Boyd and dismissed the complaint (C&EN, May 12, page 23). The case continues in the same court on counterclaims of Solomons 12
C&EN June 23, 1980
and Wiley. Trial may not begin for more than a year. Solomons and Wiley demand a jury trial on their counterclaims. They may feel they have a persuasive case to make to a jury. Moreover, the judge would be unable to dismiss counterclaims being tried by jury. The suit for plagiarism was dismissed by Judge Lasker after Solomons and his wife had testified but before they had brought in their expert witnesses. Solomons and Wiley claim that at times since 1966, editions of Morrison and Boyd dominated 70 to 90% of the market for texts in one-year introductory organic chemistry courses. They say that Morrison, Boyd, and Allyn & Bacon conspired with other authors and publishers in agreements to limit competition in organic texts, maintain market dominance for Morrison and Boyd's books, discourage others by threats of lawsuits from competing, and obtain prepublication copies of potentially competing books by illicit and improper means. They also claim that Morrison, Boyd, and Allyn & Bacon tried to persuade chemistry professors to use or keep using Morrison and Boyd's books by making false and misleading statements about dates when new editions would be published; about credentials, teaching experience, and university affiliations of Morrison and Boyd; and about the amount of participation and contributions of Morrison and Boyd to editions of books bearing their names. Solomons and Wiley ask more than $1 million in damages for antitrust violations, plus attorneys' fees and court costs. Damages would be trebled for antitrust violations. They also ask additional, unspecified damages, fees, and costs for unfair competitive acts (C&EN, Dec. 24, 1979, page 18). Thus a jury could award much more than the $3 million specifically asked. •
Bids in for Alaskan petrochemical complex At least four firms or consortia have bid for the rights to build a big petrochemical complex in Alaska, using that state's share of natural gas liquids from the oil and gas fields there as feedstock. The proposals were submitted by Dow Chemical, in association with Du Pont, Shell, and Asahi-Dow; Alaskan Arctic Resources, a group made up of Amoco Chemicals, Arctic Slope Regional, Cities Service, Cook Inlet Region, Mitsui, Dome Petroleum, and Tesoro Petroleum; Niasho-Iwai; and
Earth Resources, made up of Mitsubishi and Mitsubishi Chemical, according to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. In addition, a company called Alaska Interior Resources submitted a proposal for a methanol plant and Phillips Petroleum proposed a derivatives plant. Dow, which has been looking for a West Coast petrochemical site since it beat a retreat from California regulatory agencies three years ago (C&EN, Jan. 24,1977, page 11), now proposes a big olefins and derivatives complex for Alaska. Dow, which has spent $100,000 in the past eight months on its proposal, will spend $2 million on a feasibility study for the complex and support facilities, if its proposal is accepted by the state. These facilities could cost another $3 billion. Dow's plans call for a $400 million natural gas liquids recovery plant, a $1.4 billion pipeline, a $250 million shipping terminal, and a $400 million olefins plant. Another $500 million would be spent on support facilities. Although Du Pont and Shell are also listed in Dow's proposal, their participation is as yet less than clear. It is assumed that they will build derivatives plants using feedstocks from Dow's olefins plant. Dow proposes to organize two separate Alaskan corporations. One would be Alaskan Olefins Co., which would be owned 50% by Dow and 50% by Alaskan citizens. It would build and operate a world-scale olefins lant. The other corporation would e Alaska-Dow Polyethylene Co., which would be 25% owned by Alaskan investors and 75% owned by Dow. According to a spokesman for the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the company whose proposal is accepted will get the state's share of the natural gas liquids produced there. This will prevent any other companies from building a petrochemical complex of the same size. The state has said that it should reach a decision in about 60 days. Dow says that its plant will use all of the state's natural gas liquids plus whatever it can get from Prudhoe Bay oil producers. Dow says that its plant can be completed by 1985. Details of the other proposals have not been made available. Besides the descriptions of the plants that would be built, the proposals submitted to the Department of Natural Resources had to include the financial strength of the companies making the proposals, plus the benefits that the state would get out of the plants in terms of jobs and taxes. •
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