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Show VOLUME 2 NUMBER 13 25 Cents Per Copy May 25, 1970 Secy, of Interior Hickel vetoes development of oil shale lands The WASHINGTON, D.C. d federal program to encourage development of oil shale in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah has been vetoed by Secretary of the Interior Walter J. Hickel. A letter to Sen Frank E. Moss, tah, chairman of the subcommittee on mining, stated that the Interior Dept, has been reviewring oil shale utilization in depth, and the Secretary has decided, for economic reasons, not to proceed with plans leading to lease offerings for oil shale lands. federally-owne- d the Apparently Department of Interior has decided that the cost of developing the land by industry is too high. Such a decision is a continuation of the long-hel- d philosophy in the Interior that oil shale is not needed as an energy source. long-awaite- D-U- Hoover in April oil shale from withdrew 1930, leasing. Since then there has been no oil shale development on a commercial basis. At least 25 million dollars has been spent to develop a process to extract oil from shale, but no one has ever a built commercial nt operation. Union Oil Company, in the 1950s built a rather large plant near Rifle, Colorado, but later dismantled it. No other oil company has even attempted commercial exploration since then, based largely on the fact that the federal government controls 85 of the land in the oil shale areas of Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. This is the paradox. Private industry cant develop oil shale unless they have access to the public domain. With the decision by Secretary Hickel, the oil shale lands continue to be unavailable. The decision to delay the program is a startling reversal of recent reports. Before Hickels reported decision to cancel, several senators had reported that six leases, two in each state, would be put up for bids beginning in January 1972, with preliminary work done in 1970 and 1971. the anticipated Although announcement of the program had been delayed, it was thought to have had the approval of Interior the Bureau of the Budget and the White House and needed only what was described as the routine approval of Reasons for the apparent switch of attitudes vary. Some Continued on Page 6 SEC moves against broker-deale- r in drive against inactive shell trade WASHINGTON, D.C. staff of the Securities Commission Exchange opened a new front in its against OIL DRILLING RIG on daric Mining Corporation's Wyoming the young company ha property has had a big workout maintained a steady and largely successful drilling program. a Qassic Mining reports on successful Ohio, Wyoming oil finds Qassic Mining Corp., Salt Lake Qty, after a year of has reported to operation, shareholders on the activities of its nine oil and gas wells in Ohio and Wyoming. The company, formed in started its March, 1969, activities with a dry hole in Utah, then promptly located oil and gas on three wells in Guernsey County, Ohio. The company now has five producing wells in the same area. The wells are: Koval 1, a producing gas and oil well; King 1, one of the wells in largest producing Guernsey County which has substantial' been delivering amounts of gas and oil since the first part of December 1969; King 2, an offset to King 1 which was placed on stream April 1, 1970 and the first income was scheduled to be paid is a May 20; Qassic-Mark- s, fourth well operated by Qassic for which checks representing two months production have been received, and which was recently place on stream. Income from the well will be received June 20. In Carbon County, Wyoming, Qassic wildcatted its first well in an area in which drilling had been conducted in the 1930s but wells were no successful good oil completed despite Qassic-Ebony-Wye- rs, Cont. on pogo 3 inactive The and has war shell corporations that often show little or no assets to back their outstanding stock, according to the Wall Street Journal. The agency's staff has charged Stone Summers & Co., an Oklahoma Qty broker-deale- r, with an antimanipulative section of federal securities law as a result of its dealings in the securities of shell companies. It was the first time the staff has moved against a broker who makes a market in the stock of shell corporations, according to an SEC official. In the past, the commission has acted against the company itself. The charges indicate the agencys concern over corporate shells. If the SEC upholds the allegations by its staff, it may signal a new strategy in the SECs crackdown cm shells. The charges also named Alexander. J. Stone, the firm's president; Thomas E. Summers, its vice president; Bobby Layne Summers, ' secretary-treasure- r. and Paul Rice, a former salesman with the firm. Public hearings will be held to investigate the charges. According to the charges, the respondents engaged in an active and continuing pattern of purchase and sale, trading, in quoting and market-makin- g the securities of a number of shell corporations. The traded securities to purported represent valuable interests in operating businesses, when, according to the staff, no assets or operations Continued on Page 5 AEC scientists spark controversy over health impact of atom uses A pair LIVERMORE, Calif. n of scientists at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory here have charged that the Atomic Energy Commission is risking genocide by approving dangerous levels of radioactivity from peaceful atomic energy uses. The uproar generated by the two men, Dr. John Gofman, a medical doctor and nuclear chemist, and biophysicist Arthur Tamplin, threatens the scramble industry and government plans well-know- for expanded uses of atomic Americans receive the maximum safe or permissible dose of energy. From the AEC and nuclear radiation set by the Federal the Radiation Council and endorsed standpoint, industry controversy could upset plans by the AEC, there may be for vast development of nuclear 32,000 extra cancer deaths Their findings are electric plants and the unlocking yearly. of billions or even trillions of reportedly based on statistical dollars in natural gas, shale oil analysis of worldwide radiation and other mineral riches through research. Their proposal, first made to Plowshare' underground last an nuclear blasts. group engineering The two Lawrence scientists October and since presented to say that their concern is public Congress and numerous others, health. They charge that if Continued on Page |