Glory, glory, Mendocino
"Double bubble, oil and trouble" in Fort Bragg
BY MAUREEN HURLEY
It was enough to make a grown man cry, and many did just that after two days of impassioned testimony against the Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Services (MMS) proposed sale of Offshore Oil Lease #91 in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. In the end, a somewhat shaken MMS panel returned to Washington, D.C., to deliver the very clear message from the North Coast: no offshore oil drilling lease, no compromise, no offshore oil drilling here.
Opponents to the drilling say that proposed offshore oil wells would endanger miles of pristine coastline from Humboldt to Monterey counties. The 6.5-pound Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has predicted a 73% chance of oil spills of 1000 barrels or more. In addition to oil spills, said the report, acid rain, air pollution, toxic mud, tankers, refineries, a pipeline, and helicopters buzzing the coast every 20 minutes would be some of the by-products of the proposed oil rigs. Because most of the rigs (19) are slated for the Sonoma-Mendocino border at Point Arena, virtually all of Sonoma's coastline could be adversely affected, thus potentially threatening commercial fishing, tourism, and lumber industries—all this for an estimated two- to six-week national supply of oil.
Thanks to the continued lobbying from individuals and the California congressional contingency, proposed Offshore Oil Lease #91 has been deferred until after the next presidential election. Two "Ocean Sanctuary" bills have been introduced in Congress. The more stringent measure would ban drilling anywhere in California coastal waters.
For the first time in North Coast history, politicians, lawyers, doctors—Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s—loggers, fishermen, shopkeepers, homesteaders, Native Americans, artists, tourists, and kids presented a united front. People from every segment of the community were lustily cheering in unanimous agreement for "No offshore oil drilling rigs on the North Coast Ever!" The perceived threat to the pristine North Coast created a unity unlike anything the MMS has ever seen before—and a formidable foe it is.
From across the state, people came to testify against the proposed sale of oil lease #91. In the conservative Mendocino County lumber town of Fort Bragg, Eagle's Hall, which legally seats 450, had standing room only, with a long waiting line outside for the entire two days of die hearing.
Wednesday's fiery hearing continued into the wee hours and was extended to Thursday in an attempt to accommodate all the speakers. Before the hearing began, over 750 had signed up to testify and the ranks swelled to an estimated 1700, but at the end, the MMS panel cut off the hearings at 210 speakers Only two speakers—both paid lobbyists within the oil industry—spoke in favor of offshore oil drilling.
So many letters arrived for the hearing that the local post office was unable to deliver them all. Still, letters from as far away as Canada and telegrams from across the nation were entered into the record as public testimony.
By Thursday morning, over 1700 people had signed up to speak against MMS's proposed lease and hundreds more came to lend visible support. A "burned-out" Alex Watt, an MMS geologist collecting signatures of those still wanting to testify, said he's never seen anything like it.
It wasn't business as usual in Fort Bragg, which midweek in winter is ordinarily a tad on the slow side. Media-oriented shopkeepers experienced a mini-business boom as typographers, printers, and photocopiers were pressed into action. Camera stores kept special late hours for rush-developing yards of film shot by "paparazzi" and spectators alike. Major network and local media people worked elbow to elbow sharing information and leads. Many local inkeepers offered low rates to the protesters. Even so, there was a mad flurry for housing and many slept on couches and floors in private homes.
60s style, 80s organization
If was like a return to the protest movements of the 60s hut now enhanced with the organization of the 80s, one speaker said. Kids and other protesters marched from the town of Mendocino to Fort Bragg singing and carrying signs. Smash hits at the noon rally on Wednesday were Ukiah native Holly Near and summer resident Bonnie Raitt singing gospel to a crowd of more than 2000, and the Hit and Run Comedy. Theatre musicians Doug Nunn and Harry Roth presenting a resurrected version of "Duke of Oil." Every politician worth his or her salt got on the bandwagon, including Assemblyman Dan Hauser and Sonoma County Supervisor Ernie Carpenter; but noticeably absent from the political circle was U.S. Representative Doug Bosco, who was walking Iowa streets for presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt. Bosco was not a popular figure at the hearing.
Meanwhile, inside the packed Eagle's Hall, people from all walks of life took a verbal shotgun to the MMS's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Many who testified were experts in their fields. Contractor and organizer Dan Tower pointed out "one small, minor niggling detail" in the DEIS report, the location of the San Andreas Fault in relation to the proposed rigs. He said, "Now, I'm a builder, and it might seem contradictory that I'm against this lease, but this land's too unstable, even for geologic testing."
"What's sub-lethal?"
A spokeswoman from the Point Reyes Bird Observatory commented that the 73% "small" oil spills of 1000 barrels or more predicted by the DEIS would be more than "sub-lethal." "You don't need a large oil spill to kill birds," she said. The Texas spill of 600 barrels killed 11,000 birds. The report didn't even mention the impact of oil spills under 1000 barrels or "surge oil" spills, which are more damaging than sheet spills.
Dorothy Tornkin of the Audubon Society listed dozens of endangered North Coast birds, including the snowy plover, brown pelican, and tufted puffin, that will be adversely affected by oil spills. "Less than one drop of oil in an eggshell results in a 100% mortality rate. The lease presents dangers to two national reserves, the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Farallon Islands National Sanctuary."
Another environmentalist yelled, "What the hell does sub-lethal mean? How can something recover with a 100% mortality rate? When 100% of the species dies; it's a little difficult for them to make a comeback in 10 or 15 years as you report."
Ann Harlow, representative of the Ecology Center of Southern California, quoted from ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau: "Poisoning the sea will inevitably poison us." Noting the rise of cancer and emphysema in Southern California, a woman who is an environment-related cancer patient herself said, "We are fighting for human life here!"
For the first time, North Coast citizens had an affinity with the many Southern California visitors, who were given standing ovations when they said, in effect, "We don't want what the oil industry did to Southern California to happen here."
Conservative politician Robert Raymond came up to the podium saying, "I'm a rare, endangered species, a Republican"—the crowd hissed—"and for the first time in my' life, I have a sense of shame for my party. I'll probably vote Republican in the next election, but I'll only vote for a Republican who is against oil lease #91!"—which brought him a standing ovation. The idea of drilling for oil was so preposterous to him that he posed to the panel a hypothetical equivalent of harvesting the entire grey whale population for its protein.
Educator Rusty Norvell, a former American Petroleum Institute executive, said, "Three years ago when this issue [the offshore lease] first came up, we were goldfish. Now we're sharks and we smell blood. Oil is a four-letter word. Are we going to hear our kids saying to us, 'Oh-oh, he said the oil-word! '?" Norvell said the only answer is an ocean sanctuary from Oregon to Mexico.
Derisive comments—like oil derelicts and Department of the Inferior—seasoned the already fiery testimonies as rooting squadrons hooted and hissed to clapping, foot-stomping, and the beating of drums. Some were dressed as lobsters; others wore black plastic bags and slimed the audience in a simulated oil slick.
The Cowardly Lion of the Mendocino commune of Oz (Mervin Gilbert) shared cartoons of Interior Secretary Hodel balancing on an oil rig while sinking into the ocean. One man declared the North Coast to be "the Republic of Mendocino." He urged everyone to buy the land up at $25 an acre and turn it back to the Indians to be held in perpetual trust.
Native Americans from across the nation, including the Kashia Pomos of Sonoma Country, spoke out, offering prayers and ceremonies. Representing the Six Nations and other Indian Peoples, Apache Qchena Haskell said, "You're not dealing with just another dumb Indian here," and listed her many qualifications, including a Ph.D. She declared that the proposed lease was a violation of the Native American Religious Freedom Act instituted by former President Carter and that the Indian Nations would see the MMS in court for violation of the treaty. She concluded with a passionate "Stick this up your kind of pipe and smoke it!"
A chilling demonstration
To the horror of the audience, in a shocking display of protest, Osha Dean dumped a quart of oil over an aquarium full of live sea animals and plants. The Fort Bragg resident said, "I want to demonstrate what a 'sub-lethal impact' will do." In front of the stricken panel, she said, "I speak on behalf of the ocean and the earth," and presented the oil-slicked shellfish, seaweed, sea urchins, and fish to the panel. Mimicking Nancy Reagan, she told the panelists to "just say no on #91" when they report back to Washington.
Speaker Barry Vogel momentarily turned the hearing around, causing a near riot when he asked the panelists pointblank, "We want to hear from you, the panel. We want to know your qualifications. How many offshore oil impact statements have you analyzed? Is it more than one? Ten? 100? We have a right to know." Pandemonium broke out. Police protection was beefed up. Suddenly the panel was in the hot seat and Dick Wilhelmsen, the only panelist to answer Vogel's questions, requested a five-minute recess.
Travel agent and writer Raven Early Grow of Point Arena spelled out the acronym of the Western Oil and Gas Association—WHOA!—to the crowd's delight Then there was WOMB, women of Mendocino, re-enacting the witches' scene in Macbeth with "double bubble, oil and trouble." One woman, a seaweed grower, was so incensed by the DEIS report, she tore it in half and stomped on it.
Pulitzer prize winner and ten-year Mendocino resident Alice Walker said, "On days when the words won't come, days when despair over the crimes of the world stop my pen and almost stop my mind, I head for the ocean. All artists, all writers and poets, all painters, particularly, will be severely deprived if oil rigs are erected off the Mendocino coast It is wrong to take away or despoil the earth, the ocean, the sky, whose beauty alone sustains the courage of the people to endure."
Glory, glory, Mendocino
On a more Contra-dictory note, when Alchemy, an acapella singing group, announced, "We've just received word that the Contra aid bill failed," the house cheered and flung their anti-oil signs into the air. Every-one rose to sing Mendocino's version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic": "Our eyes have seen the glory of the Mendocino coast, / And time will tell the story of the land we love the most. / Let history remember Mendocino's mighty host/ And keep those oil rigs out. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO, AND KEEP THOSE OIL RIGS OUT!"
After 12 straight hours of tirades, impassioned pleas, performances, and songs, glum looks from the panel hoping to call it a night only encouraged an undaunted crowd. The people wanted to talk all night. "Talk 'til they stop," they said, and proceeded to talk for another six hours.
Testimony began at 8 on Thursday morning and continued until nearly 4 p.m., when the MMS officials tried to leave, even though they promised everyone would get a chance to testify. Bodega Bay resident Richard Charter, on behalf of the artists who produced "souvenirs," presented the panel with T-shirts that read, "I survived the Mendocino Hearings." Charter, a consultant to local governments, said, "Nobody has ever gone through what you've just been through."
The panelists, considerably worn down by the marathon hearing, all donned the shirts. One MMS official even pinned an anti-oil rig button to his shirt, and the cheering crowd gave them all a standing ovation while singing "Glory, glory, Mendocino" as the panelists left the hall.
Taking action
The deadline for submitting written testimony to the MMS has been extended to Mar. 14. Send written comments and resolutions to: Comments on Sale #91, DEIS, attn. Mr. Robert Karpas, MMS POCS Office, 1340 Sixth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Letters should also be sent to the following politicians who have not yet taken a clear stand on the issue: Governor Deukmejian, State Senator Jim Nielsen, U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, U.S. Representative Doug Bosco, and Republican presidential candidates Vice President George Bush and Senator Robert Dole.
Letters of support for the introduced "Ocean Sanctuary" bills Should be sent to U.S. Senator Alan Cranston and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Boxer.
Local action groups to contact are the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, P.O. Box 446, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 (544-7651); American Oceans Campaign, P.O. Box 524, Bodega Bay, CA 94923; Ocean Sanctuary Coordinating Committee, P.O. Box 76, Mendocino, CA 95460 (contact Rachel Blnah); Ocean Protection Coalition, P.O. Box 1385, Mendocino, CA 95460; and Friends of the Coast, P.O. Box 858; Occidental, CA 95465 (contact Nancy Gingrich, 575-0409).
—PHOTOS BY MAUREEN HURLEY
"Double bubble, oil and trouble" in Fort Bragg
BY MAUREEN HURLEY
It was enough to make a grown man cry, and many did just that after two days of impassioned testimony against the Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Services (MMS) proposed sale of Offshore Oil Lease #91 in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. In the end, a somewhat shaken MMS panel returned to Washington, D.C., to deliver the very clear message from the North Coast: no offshore oil drilling lease, no compromise, no offshore oil drilling here.
Opponents to the drilling say that proposed offshore oil wells would endanger miles of pristine coastline from Humboldt to Monterey counties. The 6.5-pound Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) has predicted a 73% chance of oil spills of 1000 barrels or more. In addition to oil spills, said the report, acid rain, air pollution, toxic mud, tankers, refineries, a pipeline, and helicopters buzzing the coast every 20 minutes would be some of the by-products of the proposed oil rigs. Because most of the rigs (19) are slated for the Sonoma-Mendocino border at Point Arena, virtually all of Sonoma's coastline could be adversely affected, thus potentially threatening commercial fishing, tourism, and lumber industries—all this for an estimated two- to six-week national supply of oil.
Thanks to the continued lobbying from individuals and the California congressional contingency, proposed Offshore Oil Lease #91 has been deferred until after the next presidential election. Two "Ocean Sanctuary" bills have been introduced in Congress. The more stringent measure would ban drilling anywhere in California coastal waters.
For the first time in North Coast history, politicians, lawyers, doctors—Ph.D.'s and M.D.'s—loggers, fishermen, shopkeepers, homesteaders, Native Americans, artists, tourists, and kids presented a united front. People from every segment of the community were lustily cheering in unanimous agreement for "No offshore oil drilling rigs on the North Coast Ever!" The perceived threat to the pristine North Coast created a unity unlike anything the MMS has ever seen before—and a formidable foe it is.
From across the state, people came to testify against the proposed sale of oil lease #91. In the conservative Mendocino County lumber town of Fort Bragg, Eagle's Hall, which legally seats 450, had standing room only, with a long waiting line outside for the entire two days of die hearing.
Wednesday's fiery hearing continued into the wee hours and was extended to Thursday in an attempt to accommodate all the speakers. Before the hearing began, over 750 had signed up to testify and the ranks swelled to an estimated 1700, but at the end, the MMS panel cut off the hearings at 210 speakers Only two speakers—both paid lobbyists within the oil industry—spoke in favor of offshore oil drilling.
So many letters arrived for the hearing that the local post office was unable to deliver them all. Still, letters from as far away as Canada and telegrams from across the nation were entered into the record as public testimony.
By Thursday morning, over 1700 people had signed up to speak against MMS's proposed lease and hundreds more came to lend visible support. A "burned-out" Alex Watt, an MMS geologist collecting signatures of those still wanting to testify, said he's never seen anything like it.
It wasn't business as usual in Fort Bragg, which midweek in winter is ordinarily a tad on the slow side. Media-oriented shopkeepers experienced a mini-business boom as typographers, printers, and photocopiers were pressed into action. Camera stores kept special late hours for rush-developing yards of film shot by "paparazzi" and spectators alike. Major network and local media people worked elbow to elbow sharing information and leads. Many local inkeepers offered low rates to the protesters. Even so, there was a mad flurry for housing and many slept on couches and floors in private homes.
60s style, 80s organization
If was like a return to the protest movements of the 60s hut now enhanced with the organization of the 80s, one speaker said. Kids and other protesters marched from the town of Mendocino to Fort Bragg singing and carrying signs. Smash hits at the noon rally on Wednesday were Ukiah native Holly Near and summer resident Bonnie Raitt singing gospel to a crowd of more than 2000, and the Hit and Run Comedy. Theatre musicians Doug Nunn and Harry Roth presenting a resurrected version of "Duke of Oil." Every politician worth his or her salt got on the bandwagon, including Assemblyman Dan Hauser and Sonoma County Supervisor Ernie Carpenter; but noticeably absent from the political circle was U.S. Representative Doug Bosco, who was walking Iowa streets for presidential hopeful Richard Gephardt. Bosco was not a popular figure at the hearing.
Meanwhile, inside the packed Eagle's Hall, people from all walks of life took a verbal shotgun to the MMS's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Many who testified were experts in their fields. Contractor and organizer Dan Tower pointed out "one small, minor niggling detail" in the DEIS report, the location of the San Andreas Fault in relation to the proposed rigs. He said, "Now, I'm a builder, and it might seem contradictory that I'm against this lease, but this land's too unstable, even for geologic testing."
"What's sub-lethal?"
A spokeswoman from the Point Reyes Bird Observatory commented that the 73% "small" oil spills of 1000 barrels or more predicted by the DEIS would be more than "sub-lethal." "You don't need a large oil spill to kill birds," she said. The Texas spill of 600 barrels killed 11,000 birds. The report didn't even mention the impact of oil spills under 1000 barrels or "surge oil" spills, which are more damaging than sheet spills.
Dorothy Tornkin of the Audubon Society listed dozens of endangered North Coast birds, including the snowy plover, brown pelican, and tufted puffin, that will be adversely affected by oil spills. "Less than one drop of oil in an eggshell results in a 100% mortality rate. The lease presents dangers to two national reserves, the Point Reyes National Seashore and the Farallon Islands National Sanctuary."
Another environmentalist yelled, "What the hell does sub-lethal mean? How can something recover with a 100% mortality rate? When 100% of the species dies; it's a little difficult for them to make a comeback in 10 or 15 years as you report."
Ann Harlow, representative of the Ecology Center of Southern California, quoted from ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau: "Poisoning the sea will inevitably poison us." Noting the rise of cancer and emphysema in Southern California, a woman who is an environment-related cancer patient herself said, "We are fighting for human life here!"
For the first time, North Coast citizens had an affinity with the many Southern California visitors, who were given standing ovations when they said, in effect, "We don't want what the oil industry did to Southern California to happen here."
Conservative politician Robert Raymond came up to the podium saying, "I'm a rare, endangered species, a Republican"—the crowd hissed—"and for the first time in my' life, I have a sense of shame for my party. I'll probably vote Republican in the next election, but I'll only vote for a Republican who is against oil lease #91!"—which brought him a standing ovation. The idea of drilling for oil was so preposterous to him that he posed to the panel a hypothetical equivalent of harvesting the entire grey whale population for its protein.
Educator Rusty Norvell, a former American Petroleum Institute executive, said, "Three years ago when this issue [the offshore lease] first came up, we were goldfish. Now we're sharks and we smell blood. Oil is a four-letter word. Are we going to hear our kids saying to us, 'Oh-oh, he said the oil-word! '?" Norvell said the only answer is an ocean sanctuary from Oregon to Mexico.
Derisive comments—like oil derelicts and Department of the Inferior—seasoned the already fiery testimonies as rooting squadrons hooted and hissed to clapping, foot-stomping, and the beating of drums. Some were dressed as lobsters; others wore black plastic bags and slimed the audience in a simulated oil slick.
The Cowardly Lion of the Mendocino commune of Oz (Mervin Gilbert) shared cartoons of Interior Secretary Hodel balancing on an oil rig while sinking into the ocean. One man declared the North Coast to be "the Republic of Mendocino." He urged everyone to buy the land up at $25 an acre and turn it back to the Indians to be held in perpetual trust.
Native Americans from across the nation, including the Kashia Pomos of Sonoma Country, spoke out, offering prayers and ceremonies. Representing the Six Nations and other Indian Peoples, Apache Qchena Haskell said, "You're not dealing with just another dumb Indian here," and listed her many qualifications, including a Ph.D. She declared that the proposed lease was a violation of the Native American Religious Freedom Act instituted by former President Carter and that the Indian Nations would see the MMS in court for violation of the treaty. She concluded with a passionate "Stick this up your kind of pipe and smoke it!"
A chilling demonstration
To the horror of the audience, in a shocking display of protest, Osha Dean dumped a quart of oil over an aquarium full of live sea animals and plants. The Fort Bragg resident said, "I want to demonstrate what a 'sub-lethal impact' will do." In front of the stricken panel, she said, "I speak on behalf of the ocean and the earth," and presented the oil-slicked shellfish, seaweed, sea urchins, and fish to the panel. Mimicking Nancy Reagan, she told the panelists to "just say no on #91" when they report back to Washington.
Speaker Barry Vogel momentarily turned the hearing around, causing a near riot when he asked the panelists pointblank, "We want to hear from you, the panel. We want to know your qualifications. How many offshore oil impact statements have you analyzed? Is it more than one? Ten? 100? We have a right to know." Pandemonium broke out. Police protection was beefed up. Suddenly the panel was in the hot seat and Dick Wilhelmsen, the only panelist to answer Vogel's questions, requested a five-minute recess.
Travel agent and writer Raven Early Grow of Point Arena spelled out the acronym of the Western Oil and Gas Association—WHOA!—to the crowd's delight Then there was WOMB, women of Mendocino, re-enacting the witches' scene in Macbeth with "double bubble, oil and trouble." One woman, a seaweed grower, was so incensed by the DEIS report, she tore it in half and stomped on it.
Pulitzer prize winner and ten-year Mendocino resident Alice Walker said, "On days when the words won't come, days when despair over the crimes of the world stop my pen and almost stop my mind, I head for the ocean. All artists, all writers and poets, all painters, particularly, will be severely deprived if oil rigs are erected off the Mendocino coast It is wrong to take away or despoil the earth, the ocean, the sky, whose beauty alone sustains the courage of the people to endure."
Glory, glory, Mendocino
On a more Contra-dictory note, when Alchemy, an acapella singing group, announced, "We've just received word that the Contra aid bill failed," the house cheered and flung their anti-oil signs into the air. Every-one rose to sing Mendocino's version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic": "Our eyes have seen the glory of the Mendocino coast, / And time will tell the story of the land we love the most. / Let history remember Mendocino's mighty host/ And keep those oil rigs out. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO. GLORY, GLORY, MENDOCINO, AND KEEP THOSE OIL RIGS OUT!"
After 12 straight hours of tirades, impassioned pleas, performances, and songs, glum looks from the panel hoping to call it a night only encouraged an undaunted crowd. The people wanted to talk all night. "Talk 'til they stop," they said, and proceeded to talk for another six hours.
Testimony began at 8 on Thursday morning and continued until nearly 4 p.m., when the MMS officials tried to leave, even though they promised everyone would get a chance to testify. Bodega Bay resident Richard Charter, on behalf of the artists who produced "souvenirs," presented the panel with T-shirts that read, "I survived the Mendocino Hearings." Charter, a consultant to local governments, said, "Nobody has ever gone through what you've just been through."
The panelists, considerably worn down by the marathon hearing, all donned the shirts. One MMS official even pinned an anti-oil rig button to his shirt, and the cheering crowd gave them all a standing ovation while singing "Glory, glory, Mendocino" as the panelists left the hall.
Taking action
The deadline for submitting written testimony to the MMS has been extended to Mar. 14. Send written comments and resolutions to: Comments on Sale #91, DEIS, attn. Mr. Robert Karpas, MMS POCS Office, 1340 Sixth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Letters should also be sent to the following politicians who have not yet taken a clear stand on the issue: Governor Deukmejian, State Senator Jim Nielsen, U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, U.S. Representative Doug Bosco, and Republican presidential candidates Vice President George Bush and Senator Robert Dole.
Letters of support for the introduced "Ocean Sanctuary" bills Should be sent to U.S. Senator Alan Cranston and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Boxer.
Local action groups to contact are the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, P.O. Box 446, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 (544-7651); American Oceans Campaign, P.O. Box 524, Bodega Bay, CA 94923; Ocean Sanctuary Coordinating Committee, P.O. Box 76, Mendocino, CA 95460 (contact Rachel Blnah); Ocean Protection Coalition, P.O. Box 1385, Mendocino, CA 95460; and Friends of the Coast, P.O. Box 858; Occidental, CA 95465 (contact Nancy Gingrich, 575-0409).
—PHOTOS BY MAUREEN HURLEY
The offshore oil fight:
This story has continued on and off through the decade as local governments have succeeded in keeping oil derricks away from Sonoma County shores. Reporter Ilka Jerabek won a CNPA First Prize or spot reporting for her account of the Puerto Rican oil spill in 1984. In 1986, The Paper broke the story that Congresswoman Barbara Boxer would introduce an Ocean Sanctuary bill. Last year, The Paper presented a colorful feature report on the offshore oil hearings at Fort Bragg.
This story has continued on and off through the decade as local governments have succeeded in keeping oil derricks away from Sonoma County shores. Reporter Ilka Jerabek won a CNPA First Prize or spot reporting for her account of the Puerto Rican oil spill in 1984. In 1986, The Paper broke the story that Congresswoman Barbara Boxer would introduce an Ocean Sanctuary bill. Last year, The Paper presented a colorful feature report on the offshore oil hearings at Fort Bragg.
Apparently I wrote the centerfold story as well. I don't have a first draft.
Assemblyman Dan Hauser thanked me for sending him clippings in March.
Assemblyman Dan Hauser thanked me for sending him clippings in March.
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