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Show flONflRr'TlN '.m. raC2S? Volume 2 Number Gi3QlR9cuJSsORD 11 25 May 11,1970 CM per Copy -- a 'k Alaska weighs new oil lease sale, accent on offshore ANCHORAGE The state of Alaska is talking about another North Slope lease sale in the fall, so the security curtain has been drawn tight around three key wildcats and oil scouts are packing their bags for another session on the Slope, according td California Business. The proposed sale isn't apt to be as big as the $900 million auction held last September. The state hasnt that much exciting acreage left. Some observers believe the sale may feature offshore tracts contiguous with onshore parcels already held by various companies. Wildcatters are hard at work the Slope, and three exploratory holes cast long on- - California shadows, Business notes. The one capturing the most attention is a Gulf Oil Corp. venture in the Colville Delta area, 50 miles northwest of the Prudhoe Bay discovery well. There has been no release whatsoever of information on the hole. The wildcat under contract to Parker Drilling Co., is on a block totalling 15,360 six-tra- ct acres, from which Gulf-B- P paid the state bonuses totalling $97,054,720, or an average of $6,318.66 per acre. Theres open acreage less than a mile west of the wildcat, which puts a premium on well Continued on Page 2 Alaska Utah solons hit mine safety bill provisions WASHINGTON Safety requirements of the new Coal Mine Safety Act, which went into effect April 1, have been castigated by two Utah Republicans as likely to force the closing of many small coal mining operations in the state. Sen. Wallace F. Bennett, and Rep. Laurence J. R-Uta- h, Burton, propose new to delay and soften legislation the impact of the measure passed last year. Both men voted for the law when it was before Congress, but they said some of the regulations written by the Bureau of Mines under the act were unrealistic and imposed on too short notice. Burton said he did not want to weaken provisions for safe mine operation, but he said some requirements were unfair to small mine operators. He said a requirement that licensed R-Utah, engineers be employed to check mine operations was impractical because too few engineers were available. He added that most licensied engineers in Utah preferred to work for federal agencies rather than in lower paying mine jobs. Bennett suggested three changes in the law. He said he will introduce a bill to hold up enforcement of the new regulations until Sept. 1 to allow more time for owners to comply with the rules. He noted that some regulations were issued March 31 and enforcement began April 1. He called the brief compliance period a hardship oh mine operators,- Mho face penalties of $10,000 for each violation. Bennett said the delay in enforcement should not halt safety, inspections or cataloging of safety deficiencies and correction of hazardous conditions. - five-mon- th Dr. Weinberg. U-scient- . . blasting the critics urges harnessing ists of nuclear energy The salvation of humanity hinges on development of an inexpensive and inexhaustible energy supply and the only infinite power source now known is nuclear energy. Thats the claim of Dr. Alvin Weinberg, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory near Clinton, Tenn., who recently took issue with prophets of doom who say technology cannot save us in a speech at the University of Utah. d The expert on atomic energy insists that despite a probable a quadrupling of population in the next century, man cannot .only survive but can significantly improve his standard of living. Dr. Weinberg cited the lack of public acceptance as the major obstacle, to exploitation of the nuclear potential. The Oak Ridge chief conceded that large scale nuclear operations would produce thermal and radioactive byproducts that would require disposal sophisticated such as techniques, sealing radioactive materials in steel cans and burying them safely in abandoned salt mines thousands of feet below ground. world-renowne- He suggested that heat problems could be solved by constructing large nuclear power stations on manmade islands and dissipating the heat with sea water. Smaller reactors could be located inland and heat from them could be used to control the climate in enormous greenhouse vegetable farms. Another beneficial result of conversion to nuclear power would be a gradual cleansing of the atmosphere. Unlike carbon bearing fuels, atomic energy releases no gaseous or particulate contaminants into the air, and Dr. Weinberg envisions the transition to nuclear energy as a significant step toward restoring our air to the quality prevalent before the industrial revolution. He said the money spent for a moon launch single (approximately $350 million) could probably perfect the technology that would satisfy mans energy needs indefinitely. Utah asserts rights to claim old corporate stocks Utah stockbrokers must ' submit unclaimed stock certificates and related valuable securities to the State of Utah after seven years and may not submit them to brokerage houses out of state, the attorney general has held. In an opinion written for State Treasurer Golden L Allen, Atty. Gen. Vernon B. Romney outlined reporting procedures for such securities presumed to be abandoned. Mr. Allen said it appears that certificates worth thousands of dollars may have been lost to the state since 1957, when the Unclaimed Property Act was passed. The situation came to light in February when a broker told Mr. Allen he was inclined to turn certain unclaimed securities over to the state ratehr than send them off- to New York as had, apparently, been traditional with I his and other firms for years dont know how long this has - been going on and we have no real knowledge of how much value total has been involved, said Mr. Allen. He said it could be thousands of dollars and possibly more over the years. His office is responsible for acquiring and disposing of and unclaimed property banks with abandoned safety Continued on page 2 |