The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 1

2070 200312 Zlily-Tata Corp rr. V. 3S 'Jilt Cltj 81115 SINGLE COPY PRICE: 35 OUTSIDE INSIDE The Daily T-Birds win third straight See page B1 St George: Partly cloudy and breezy through Thursday. Continued mild. Highs in the mid 70s to mid 80s.

Lows In the upper 40s to mid SOs. Serving The Color Country Seven Days A Week! WASHINGTON COUNTY EDITION Copyrighted ST. GEORGE, UTAH VOLUME 27 DNUMBER18 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8, 1989 18 PAGES (. Briefs Panel says dike foundation unprotected above the ground at Quail Creek demonstrate the probability of underground fissures capable of leaking water into the foundation. However, it was assumed in the state-approved plans that little seepage would occur and more extensive precautions were not necessary, he said.

"Based on the assumption there would be little or no seepage, these contacts were not protected," James said. He said there was no evidence the break was due to soluble gypsum in the rock formations under the dam, as geologists speculated immediately after the collapse. He said gypsum usually must be exposed to water for several years before it dissolves. Seepage at Quail Creek began almost immediately after the reservoir began filling in 1985. The $3 million dike was part of a $23 million dam and reservoir project that contained 50,000 acre-feet of water.

The project was designed for the state by the Provo firm of Rollins, Brown and Gunnell Inc. After it's completion, the reservoir and dam were managed by the Washington County Water Conservancy District. SALT LAKE CITY (AP) An independent panel of engineers has concluded that the Quail Creek Dike collapsed because its designers failed to protect the structure's silty -foundation from seepage erosion. The chairman of the state- appointed Independent Review Team said on Tuesday that the many fissures in rock underlying the dam should have alerted the builders that a significant amount of seepage was probable at the site nine miles east of St. George.

"When you build an earthen dam over a foundation, you have to protect that contact" between the foundation and bedrock, panel chairman Robert L. James said during a news conference. "They did not really do much contact treatment." The 70-foot-high dike collapsed shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, sending a wall of water into St. George, Bloomington and other downstream communities. No lives were lost, but damage to homes, apartments, farmland and livestock has been estimated at $12 million.

James, a private engineering consultant based in Lancaster, Texas, said fissures in the rock formations is not a major problem if proper measures are taken. More precautions were taken with the construction of the Quail Creek Dam itself, James said. He said the dam foundation was grouted extensively, but also, it was built on less risky formations. Underlying the dike are a series of ridges run in the same direction as the downstream, flow, creating a greater risk of seep-' age. The dam faces a different direction, and the ridges under it cut across the water's natural flow, James said.

Dee Hansen, state natural resources director, said Monday that the dike failure has prompted the state to adopt a new policy. An independent review will now be required on all new dam proposals. Other members of the Independent Review Team are Alan O'Neill, a consulting engineering geologist from San Francisco; Richard B. Ca-tanach of Tierra Engineering Consultants Inc. of Santa Fe, N.M.; J.

Lawrence Von Thun, director of the Analysis Group of the Bureau of Reclamation's Embankment Dam Section in Denver; and Bruce Barrett, project engineer for the Bureau of Reclamation's Southwest Wyoming Field Office. The report released Tuesday addressed the cause of the collapse and whether the dike can be rebuilt. James said the panel still is working on the additional assignments of evaluating the stability of the Quail Creek Dam, which is north of the dike. James said the team concluded that a new dike can be built, but the state should not attempt to patch the remnants of the old structure. In a new structure, seepage would likely continue, but it will not cause damage if the foundation is protected by filtering material, such as sand, gravel or both.

The filter would be placed between the bedrock and the silt foundation, allowing water to pass through the foundation but preventing erosion by holding the foundation material in place. Other possible solutions would in- elude: putting the foundation directly on bedrock, rather than on "overburden," or loose boulders and rock above the bedrock and closing any openings with grouting; sealing the embankment with a concrete slab. The best solution would depend on the site selected for the new dike, James said. James declined to say who specifically was to blame for the collapse, saying the team's instructions were to evaluate the technical causes. He also noted that while a safer dam could have been built, it would have cost more.

"I certainly won't say we saw anything we thought was incompetent. Anytime you're (designing a dam) you're making assumptions," he said. "I'm not saying this was an improper foundation. It's not the most desirable foundation I've seen. I've also seen less-desirable foundations." Asked whether he would have been proud to have designed the dike, he said, "No, I would not be proud.

I certainly would no." Ralph Rollins, the designer, said he would have no comment until he has studied the final report, but added, "We knew it piped from the beginning." James said the panel could not specifically pinpoint the erosion channel since most of the evidence was washed downstream when the dam collapsed. He said seepage, which probably entered the foundation area from several vertical fissures in the rock, is almost inevitable in any dam and Milk companies pay fines for price fixing '-ly- SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Two milk companies accused of fixing prices have agreed to pay the state $250,000 each in penalties under the largest antitrust settlement ever obtained in Utah, Attorney General Paul Van Dam says. The agreement, signed Tuesday in 3rd Circuit Court, came after state officials alleged that top executives from Western Dairymen Cooperative of Thornton, and Meadow Gold Dairies, of Columbus, Ohio, met in the fall of 1986 and agreed to raise the price of milk by 10 cents per gallon'. The executives also reportedly agreed to divide the wholesale dairy market among themselves, and Western Dairymen officials took steps to monopolize trade and suppress competition, according to a court complaint. Neither company admits fault in the agreements, and Van Dam said no criminal charges are pending.

The companies already have paid most of the money to the state and are expected to pay the rest within a Suspect arrested HOLLADAY, Utah (AP) Em ployees began and deputies finished a chase that ended in the arrest of a 26-year-old Salt Lake uty man minutes after the robbery of a grocery store pharmacy. The man Was booked into the Salt Lake County jail for investigation of four counts of aggra vated robbery. I he incident began about 11 a.m. Tuesday after a man wearing a white mask approached two pharmacists at Albertson's, 2300 E. 3900 South, and demanded drugs while brandishing a MAC-10 semi-automatic handgun, officers said.

The weapon held a full magazine with 30 rounds. Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Chuck Chris tensen said pharmacy manager Roger Clements and his assistant apparently did not move last enougn to suit tne roDDer, ana, "He fired one shot to get their attention." The bullet went between the two and lodged in a rear wall. Haast upgraded SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The condition of snake-venom researcher William E. Haast, who was bitten by a Pakistani pit viper, has been upgraded from serious to fair and he could be released from the hospital within several days, a spokesman said.

ine nonunion oi naasi, la, was upgraded because the coagulating agent in his blood has returned to an acceptable level, John Dwan, spokesman for the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, said Tuesday. Haast, director of the Miami Serpentarium Laboratories, was bitten Feb. 28, his 148th snake bite. Believing he had immunity from the venom, he did not go to the hospital until the next day. He was allergic to the antivenin at hand in Utah, and was treated with serums from California.

Four in custody SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Ra dioactive materials stolen from a parked car in Salt Lake City were recovered from a stolen car in Evanston, and four people were taken into custody, Salt Lake police said. Mark Burrell of the Division of Environmental Health said the items were stolen sometime late Monday or early Tuesday from the car of Ross Mercer, a consult ing health physicist with Health Physics Northwest of Tigard, Ore. The box contained four sealed packages of radioactive material, marked with the radioactive symbol, that Mercer was using to calibrate instruments used in nuclear medicine at Holy Cross Hospital, The instruments measure the dos age of radioactivity administered to patients. One package contained 250 microcuries of barium 133, one had 250 microcuries of barium, and there were two containers of cobalt, one of 500 microcuries and one of 20 microcuries. Charaes filed PBnVfl TTtnh AP Rriffham Young University Police nave filed class misdemeanor charges of vandalism against three students stemming from the explosion of a homemade pipe DomD on campus lasi munui.

Aaron P. Smith, 18, of Ohio and Dennis P. Spratling, 19, and Michael K. Eean. 18.

both of Oreeon. were charged Friday in 4th Circuit uurt. ah are iresnmen living in Helaman Halls. The hnmh made bv napkins gunpowder into a copper tube and cnmping tne enas, was lgmiea with a fuse and destroyed a news paper dispenser outside tne ran ner Building on Feb. 24.

iTniversitv Police Set. Aaron Rhoades said an informant had provided police with names after someone bragged about setting off the bomb. INDEX Business 10 Classified Legal Notices B4 Lifestyle. Nationals World Obituaries B5 Ooinion SDOrts B1-2 State Local 2-3 TV Listings Weather HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN 1 Robert S. ot Cedar City knows that The Dally Spectrum Classified Action Ads get fast results.

He advertised a three bdrm. home for rent snd rented It the fourth day the ad appeared In The Dally Spectrum. Let ACTION -ADS work for you tool To place an ACTION AO ust call 673-3511 In St. George or 586-7046 In Cedar City, lodayl Clearing debris CEDAR CITY Utah Department of Transpor- ly hazardous buildup of alluvial debris, while tation employee Brad Davis clears the using the material on projects such as streambed below the North Main bridge on building up the shoulders on State Road 56. Coal Creek.

UDOT helps Iron County to keep (Spectrum Rich Gilmore) the channel and bridge clear of a potential- 5 juvenile members of clan to appear in court part of national trend few days. "The board of directors of WDCI believes that the enormous expenses entailed in responding to the investigation and the resulting loss of time and effort by its management, directors and officers made it prudent and wise to settle the case before causing further expense to our dairy farmers," said Western Dairymen President James P. Camerlo in a statement released Tuesday. Camerlo, who "expressly and specifically" denied that his company had engaged in any of the alleged conduct, said the investigation already has caused great expense for the cooperative and individual dairy farmer members. Van Dam said the price fixing was believed to have occurred several times until January 1988.

The executives met in Denver and Salt Lake City to agree on prices, he said, but the settlement covers only the companies' dealings in Utah. "We have to confine our investigation to the area we have jurisdiction over," Van Dam said. proclaimed himself their new patriarch, authorities said. He was taken into custody after weapons were drawn, but the charges were dropped and he and the LeBaron children disappeared the same night from various Denver-area foster homes. Federal authorities believe the youngsters may have pertinent information that could result in indictments against Jordan's killer if the children will talk.

The five juveniles are named in grand jury material witness warrants. Testimony in U.S. District Court in Chicago indicated the Utah grand jury would convene Thursday and Friday. Utah FBI agents, testifying Monday at the removal hearing in Chicago, said the children had been talking to authorities. Defense attorneys in complained that the youngsters had not been properly informed of their rights before questioning.

SALT LAKE CITY Dee Vance attorney foe Utah. (AP) population-contemporary hubs of Memphis, Nashville, Charlotte and Dayton and below other Delta hubs," said the study released Tuesday. The study was ordered after numerous complaints from the public on the escalating cost of air travel. Delta, which operates a regional hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, was the prime target of the complaints. The study said Salt Lake City "has not been significantly disadvantaged by Delta's fare structure and, in fact, has benefited in comparison to other major carrier hubs." As expected, said Kurth, the abnormally high fares encountered by Salt Lake travelers involve the "shorter-haul monopoly markets." However, the convenience of having several flights a day to shorter-haul cities such as Denver, Boise, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco must be considered, particularly since Salt Lake does not generate the passenger volume of other hubs due to the small size of the local SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Five juvenile members of the LeBaron polygamist clan were to appear in U.S.

District Court here today pre-patory to their appearance before a grand jury investigating the 1987 slaying of former LeBaron follower Daniel Ben Jordan. The five were removed to Utah from Chicago where they were taken into custody last month along with four adults. Some of the youngsters were in the deer-hunting camp in Sanpete Countv on Oct. 16, 1987, when Jordan was snot. Also present was Aaron LeBaron, 20, who was in custody in Chicago on charges of transporting illegal aliens.

Aaron led a small band of children from the LeBaron ranch in Sonora, Mexico, to Jordan's polygamist compound in Bennett, a few weeks before the slaying. The night of Jordan's funeral, Aaron gathered Jordan's clan and Attorney sworn in SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Dee Benson, a former Salt Lake City lawyer and associate deputy U.S. attorney general, was sworn in Tues-, day as interim U.S. attorney for Utah. Benson replaces Brent Ward, who resigned.

"I look forward with pleasure to attempt to carry out the obligations of this office," the new federalprose-cutor said, joking that his first order of business would be to learn how to get through the security devices in Uie federal court building. "I have to get up there and figure out how to work the combination of the front door," he said. Benson was sworn in by U.S. Chief District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins.

"There have been many men of. great stature and professional confidence who have preceded you," Jenkins said. "All of us expect you will fill this office with distinction." Benson was appointed to the post last Friday by U.S. Attorney General Richard Thornburgh on the recommendation of Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Jake Garn.

Air fare hikes SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Increases in Salt Lake air fares are part of a national trend, particularly among hub cities, and are not a case of Delta Air Lines taking advantage of its dominance in the local market, a study concluded. The Salt Lake City Airline Fares Study was conducted by Kurth Company Inc. for the Utah Air Travel Commission. "Although Delta's Salt Lake City fares were modestly (5.7 percent) above average during the fourth quarter of 1987 (the period studied)," said the report, "Delta Salt Lake City fares in 24 of the (47) markets analyzed were below average, primarily as a result of competition. "In fact, Salt Lake City fares were less than those of its primary hub competitor Denver, below Benson Is sworn in as Interim U.S.

market, the study said. In other words, without its hub status, said Kurth, Salt Lake would be in the greatest danger of any competing hub of losing frequent jet service to short-haul cities. "Thus, relatively higher fares in these markets may be part of the price for having access to frequent jet service. Salt Lake City's hub status provides substantial economic and air service benefits to the surrounding area and to the state," the study said. One of the main complaints had been that Delta provided cheaper air fares for Californians to ski in Colorado than in Utah, but the study found that was not the case.

It said the standard Los Angeles-to-Salt Lake fare was $295 on Feb. 20, unchanged from Nov. 22, while the fare to Denve- was $320, up from $295 on Nov. 22. The lowest round-trip advance-purchase excursion fare between Los Angeles and Salt Lake was $178, down from $218 on Nov.

22. Construction of the plant is on schedule and initial production is expected to begin in spring, he said. American Pacific is building the plant as a replacement for one destroyed by an explosion May 4, 1988, near Las Vegas. The company chose the Utah site over two others in Nevada because it felt it could be built there more quickly. The Las Vegas plant was only one of two in the nation that makes ammonium perchlorate, a crucial oxiding agent used in solid-fuel rockets, including those used to power military missiles and the space shuttle.

American Pacific also announced Tuesday a net loss of $343,000, or 9 cents a common share, on revenues of $1,365,000 for the first quarter ended Dec. 31. Figures for the same period last year were not disclosed. PEPCON seeking $92 million loan for Cedar City plant 'MIX1 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Pacific Engineering and Production Co. (PEPCON) said it has taken initial steps toward closing a loan for as much as $92 million for an undisclosed term to construct an ammonium perchlorate plant near Cedar City.

Fred D. Gibson chairman, president and chief executive officer of PEPCON's parent, American Pacific said Tuesday that company officials have executed princi- gil loan documents with Security acific Bank Washington N.C. He said the documents were being held in escrow by legal counsel, and the rest of the items necessary to complete the loan closing were being provided by third parties. Gibson said the loan was expected to be closed by Friday. 1.