News of the Week
Impact of Alaska oil spill spreading Last week, signs intensified that Alaska's massive oil spill is a watershed event, rocking the oil industry in the way that the explosion of space shuttle Challenger shook the U.S. space program. Three weeks ago, on March 24, the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, spilling an estimated 11 million gal of North Slope crude oil, the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Since then, the media have conveyed, day after day, indelible images of an environmental disaster, detailing the spill's toll on pristine waters and shores, marine wildlife and fisheries, and the livelihood of regional residents. Just as with the Challenger disaster, public doubts are spreading about the competence arid credibility of involved g o v e r n m e n t agencies and industry, and calls are rising for new policies and practices. Last Tuesday's Congressional Record, for example, published eight pages of speeches by House members attacking Exxon's "unnecessary and extraordinary negligence," its "botched" cleanup operation, the inadequate contingency plans, and years of "dereliction of duty" by federal regulatory agencies. Two House subcommittees and a Senate committee have held hearings during the past 10 days. A third House subcommittee last week took the rare step of obtaining subpoena powers to investigate the oil spill's causes and impact, the cleanup effort, contingency planning, operations of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, and the need for changes in laws, regulations, and government resources. Moreover, bills were introduced in the House and Senate to stop firms like Exxon from getting "huge tax breaks for cleaning up an environmental disaster they caused in the first place," preventing it from deducting the cleanup costs—projected at $100 million to $500 million—as an ordinary expense of doing business. And two consumer organizations—Citizen Action and the Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition—launched a campaign for a na8
April 17, 1989 C&EN
Boat with boom collects oil from spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound tional boycott of Exxon gasoline, to prevent the firm from "making consumers help pay for the cleanup." The spill also has frozen action on a bill that was moving steadily through Congress, opening the Arc-
tic National Wildlife Refuge in northern Alaska to oil drilling. The bill had Administration support, but was opposed vehemently by environmental groups and others. Richard Seltzer
U.K., Soviet groups plan joint science database Robert Maxwell, chairman and chief executive officer of London-based Maxwell Communications, has signed a protocol with VINITI, the All Union Institute of Scientific & Technical Information of the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., for a joint scientific on-line venture. The first information product of the n e w v e n t u r e will be an English language database of chemistry and chemical technology derived from a "comprehensive analysis of the world chemical literature." Plans call for similar products covering many other sciences. Initial capital investment is $34 million. The protocol was signed by Maxwell and Pyotr Nesterov, director of VINITI, early this month. Maxwell Communications will not clarify if the document represents a final, complete agreement. And the firm will give no timetable under w h i c h the a r r a n g e m e n t will be developed. Maxwell, a former member of Parliament, is one of Britain's media barons. His publishing empire in-
cludes Pergamon Press and a number of national newspapers. The new venture with VINITI will be known as "Scitechinform" (STI). The Maxwell organization will provide hardware, software, and information specialists. VINITI will supply skilled abstractors and all data inputs and raw material. According to Maxwell, "The formation of STI marks a significant step in the implementation of our global strategy of supplying information of critical importance in accessible formats, on time, and at affordable prices. The size of the project is an important indicator of the willingness of our Soviet colleagues to work with their Western counterparts in as critical an area as information and communications." Officials of the American Chemical Society's Chemical Abstracts Service a n d of VINITI have been discussing areas of possible cooperation and exchange since last year. At press time a continuation of these talks was scheduled for next month at CAS headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. Patricia Layman
