The Daily Spectrum from Saint George, Utah • 1

lata Corp ZZll rd iest Salt lake Cit I'T 4115 SINGLE COPY OUTSIDE INSIDE PRICE: 25" The Daily St. George: Fair and hot through Saturday; highs today and Saturday near 105; lows tonight near 70. lT i i I continues See N. I I i 11 II Ir-vTIl I 1 ff I 1 page 8 Serving The Color Country Seven Days a Week! WASHINGTON COUNTY EDITION Copyrighted ST. GEORGE, UTAH VOLUME 26 NUMBER 145 FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1988 18 PAGES Briefs Welders touched off lethal chemical was kept in plastic drums, metal drums and aluminum bins.

The blaze, punctuated by several small explosions, destroyed 8.5 million pounds of ammonium perchlorate in less than five minutes, said investigator Capt. Bob James. He said two of the explosions measured 3 and 3.5 on the Richter scale used to measure earthquakes. Parrish said two welders preparing to hang siding on the west The damage has been estimated at $73 million, and destruction of the plant caused a critical national shortage of ammonium perchlorate, the oxidizing agent of solid rocket fuel used to power the nation's ICBMs and the space shuttle. Most of the hundreds of workers had been warned by several small explosions and fled into the desert before the flames reached two giant outdoor strorage fields where the acetylene torch used to install paneling at Pacific Engineering and Production Co.

(PEPCON) in nearby Henderson, one of only two plants in the nation that manufactures ammonium perchlorate. The fire and explosions injured more than 350 people, damaged more than 3,000 buildings in the Las Vegas Valley and sparked political and public controversies over afety standards and industrial zoning. LAS VEGAS, Nev. (UPI) Welders using torches against safety guidelines ignited explosions that demolished a rocket fuel plant, killing two people and causing shortages of a chemical vital to the nation defense and space programs, investigators said. Clark County Fire Chief Roy Par-rish announced Thursday that the cause of the May 4 disaster was spewing molten iron from an oxy- Relatives won't feel safe until others arrested Agenda for the 1988 National Democratic Convention Although there are earlier events at the 1988 Democratic convention, the first session begins in Atlanta on July 18.

The following is a partial listing of the convention's agenda. JULY 15 9:30 am: Symposium for international I JULY 16 9:00 am: Seminar for international visitors 6:00 pm: Salute to black elected officials 9:00 pm: Private dinners lor interna-- tional visitors 1 'Tl HOUSTON (UPI) Relatives of three people killed because they split from a violent religious sect say they are relieved at the arrests of possible suspects in the case, but will not feel safe until others also are taken into custody. "Of course we're glad, but we're not totally relieved until the others are (arrested) too," said Thelma Chynoweth, mother of Duane and Mark Chynoweth and grandmother of Jennifer Chynoweth, 8, who were all shot to death in Houston June 27. A fourth person, Eddie Marston, was killed at about the same time in Irving, Texas, near Dallas. All of the adults were former members of the Church of the Lamb of God, a polygamous religious sect founded by the late Ervil LeBaron.

Shortly after the slayings, Houston Police said they wanted to question three of LeBaron's sons Heber, Aaron and Andrew in the slayings. Heber LeBaron is among five people in custody in Phoenix, who are being questioned by police from Arizona, Texas and Utah. "They need to deal with the whole group we're talking 20 or 30 kids," Glen Chynoweth, an Ogden, Utah, truck driver and brother of the two slain men, told The Houston Post. "When you've got all those characters in jail, it'll be a big relief." JULY 17 4:00 pm: Hispanic caucus reception 5:00 pm: Black caucus reception 7:00 pm: Delegation parties throughout Atlanta JULY 21 9:00 ami Issues forum 5:30 pm: Congressional black caucus reception 7:00 pm: Georgia Democratic Party recept. 7:00 pm: State chair assoc.

caucus 8:00 pm. FOURTH SESSION: 1 Vice Pres. nominations, roll call JULY 20 9:00 am: Issues forums 7:00 pm: State chairs assoc. caucus 8:00 pm: THIRD SESSION: 1) Pres. nomin- ation, roll call 2) Fundraising reception Acceptance speeches 3) Victory celebration InloGraphics 1986 North America Syndicate.

Inc. I LSI WMtiWWA Houston Police Lt. Richard Holland said investigators also have "got some ideas" on the whereabouts of Andrew and Aaron LeBaron. "At least they've got a lead. That's a relief," Glen Chynoweth said.

"They've been looking all over Mexico and the United States. This gives (police) a place to concentrate." Chynoweth said family member told police in June to direct their search for the LeBarons in Phoenix because Thelma Chynoweth had sent money to them there as late as September. In addition to her relation to the slain men, Thelma Chynoweth also is grandmother of Aaron and Andrew LeBaron. Ervil LeBaron died in the Utah state prison in 1981, but officials believe his sons are determined to carry on his mission of "blood atonement" punishing family members and associates who broke with the sect. Nearly a dozen relatives of the Houston victims were placed in police protective custody following the slayings.

I'd look forward to the threat being gone," said Glen Chynoweth, who never was a member of the LeBaron sect. "I don't care who they are. If they're going to be doing these things, they have to be stopped." levels of lead in blood samples taken from children living in the subdivision, and the next year the site was proposed for federal Superfund cleanup listing. But, it was removed from possible Superfund consideration in 1986, at the urging of Utah officials, including Park City resident Sen. Jake Gam, R-Utah.

And the city has since covered all exposed land in Prospector Square with 6 inches of topsoil. "There is a great possibility the (topsoil) action taken by the city interrupted any danger posed by the tailings," said McGeehin. "None of the participants' blood samples demonstrated evidence of lead toxicity, and all cadmium and arsenic results were within the normal reference range," he said. The concentration of those three metals in the blood of Prospector Square children was "one-half the national average," he said. But children living in other Park City neighborhoods had levels one-quarter of the national average.

The reason for the low levels, compared to national averages, McGeehin said, "is human uptake of heavy elements may be less likely when these contaminants are present in mine tailings." Park City's Prospector Square given a clean bill of health vntors pm: Volunteer party JULY 18 9:00 am: Issues forum 12:45 pm: Pres. Carter's luncheon 8:00 pm: FIRST SESSION 1 Opening ceremonies 2) Credentials report 3) Rules report 4 Keynote JULY 19 9:15 am: Student convention program 10:30 am: Issues symposium 7:00 pm: State chairs assoc. caucus 8:00 pm: SECOND SESSION: Platform speech report SOURCE: National Democratic Committee Wilson favors PARK CITY, Utah (UPI) Democrat Ted Wilson, the former mayor of Salt Lake City, claims Utah can solve many of its economic problems through a long-term bonding program to pump money into the state. But during a Thursday debate with his 1988 challenger, Republican Gov. Norm Bangerter said he is still opposed to such a program.

The debate was held during the Utah Farm Bureau Federation's annual summer meetings. "We've got to get the dust flying," said Wilson, who was Salt Lake mayor for a decade. "We've got to try something new in Utah." Wilson has said he would support at least a $150 million state bonding plan, repaying the notes over 15 years. Putting that much money into Utah, Wilson said, would "prime the economic pump without raising taxes." Bangerter claimed it does not pay the state to go into debt in low inflation years, even though bond interest costs might be low. I Mrtf 1 bonding, Bangerter doesn't Quake measures 4.7 CHALLIS, Idaho (UPI) An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale occurred at 11:32 a.m.

(MDT) Thursday about 115 miles northeast of Boise, the same area where a quake killed two children five years ago. Waverly Person, a seismologist at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. said the epicenter of the quake was 10 miles south of Challis in the same area as the Oct. 28, 1983 Borah Peak earthquake that crushed Tara Leaton, 7, and Travis Franck, 6, under tons of concrete. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries Thurs day, but officials said it was felt as far east as Helena and Butte, and as far west as Boise.

Fined for feathers SALT LAKE CITY UPI) A former New Mexico man was fined $2,500 Friday and ordered to pay $560 in restitution on his guilty plea to charges he offered to sell 33 wing feathers from a golden eagle. Utah federal Judge David Winder also ordered Paul Zilth, 36, now a resident of St. George, Utah, to perform 300 hours of community service work in the area of wildlife protection and wildlife habitat improvement. And, Winder said, if Zilth successfully completes his community service work, the fine would be reduced by $1,400, The judge also placed the Navajo Indian on three years probation. Fruit crops down SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) -Weather-related problems, but not the recent dry spell, have com bined to reduce Utah's 1988 fruit crop, the state Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

"We've had just about everything," said Marty Owens of the department's Agricultural Statistics Service. "We had some frost damage, some late-spring snows, and low temperatures that resulted in poor pollination." But, because most Utah orchards are irrigated, Owens said, "there aren't any serious or widespread water problems. Most reservoir irrigation supplies are at least adequate." The state's biggest fruit crop, apples, is estimated as 21,000 tons this year, down 38 percent from 1987's record harvest. Idaho fire contained POCATELLO, Idaho (UPI) A blaze that has scorched mostly sagebrush and rangeland in eastern Idaho's Caribou National Forest has been contained and was expected to be controlled by Friday night, officials said. Milt Williams, planning section chief at the fire, said the blaze was contained Thursday and was expected to be fully controlled Friday night.

5 charged in fraud SALT LAKE CITY (UPI) A Utah federal grand jury has handed up an indictment charging five men with running a $1.5 million fraudulent "boiler room" operation in which bogus merchandise and vacations were sold to thousands of customers nationwide. The 131-count indictment was unsealed Thursday and two of the suspects appeared before a U.S. Magistrate. A court clerk said four of the men, two already in custody and two who were expected to surrender to authorities, are scheduled to be arraigned Friday. INDEX Classified B2-5 Legal Notices 85 Lifestyle ...6 Nation The World ...4 Obituaries B5 Opinion 5 8,9 TV Utah The West 2 Weather 2 Today's Bible Verse "Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?" Jonah 4:4 TOYOTA SALE-A-BRATION! Bob of St.

George knows that The Daily Spectrum Classified Action Ads get fast results. He advertised a 1978 Toyota Pickup for sale and sold It the second day the ad appeared in the Daily Spectrum. Let ACTION ADS work for you too! To place an ACTION AD just call 673-3511 In St. George or 586-7646 in Cedar City, today) side of the building were working without a fire watch, a backup team capable of putting out a blaze, when sparks from the torch set fire to building materials, scattered ammonium perchlorate, plastic drums and manufacturing equipment. "By OSHA (Occupational Safety and Heakh Administration) standards, fire department standards and their own (TEPCON) standards they were suppose to have a fire watch when doing welding," said Parrish.

Parrish said statements by the welders, both employed by PEPCON, helped investigators trace the cause of the disaster. He said the fire started by the welding equipment ignited nearby debris and then quickly spread to the giant storage fields several hundred feet away. Parrish's brief technical statement released Thursday contradicted PEPCON's official position that the explosion was caused by leaks in a large natural gas line that runs under the property. "Natural gas was not involved in the initial cause and origin," Parrish told a news conference. But Keith Rooker, executive vice president and general counsel for PEPCON, challenged the accuracy of the Fire Department report, saying nothing in it would change the company's opinion that large volumes of natural gas were involved in the disaster.

"Nothing in the Clark County Fire Department report or discovered in the independent professional investigation to date causes Pacific Engineering to modify its position as previously stated on a number of occasions respecting the presence of large volumes of natural gas without which the massive fire and explosions would not have occurred," said a statement released by Rooker. "We do not believe any purpose would be served by engaging in a point by point discussion of these matters and therefore will not do so," said Rooker. NASA and the Department of Defense recently agreed to guarantee financing to rebuild the plant in order to meet demands of the space shuttle program, MX missiles and the nation's solid rocket fuel defense arsenal. gerter administration's "yo-yo" taxing policy was difficult for businessmen to respond to. He also blasted the governor for an inability to keep young people in the state, saying 13,500 workers left Utah last year seeking jobs.

Bangerter took a hard line on the wilderness issue, saying "not one more acre of Utah land" should be designated as a wilderness study area "until it's clearly demonstrated it would be in the interests of the public." Wilson said, "I believe in wilderness values," and that the state should not paint itself into a corner in dealing with federal land managers studying the resource values of Utah's public lands. is garbage and carrying Flake's 19-year-old son, Scott, was last seen about 10 a.m. Wednesday in Fillmore. The two were returning to Chandler from Burley, Idaho. Lillie said 13 CAP planes returned to the air Friday, flying from "Fillmore south to the Arizona-Utah state line and east all the way over to the Lake Powell area." The single-engine plane was last seen when it "landed on a road and wheeled up to a convenience store and bought gas" in Fillmore, Lillie said.

Flake was known to be an excellent and experienced pilot "but he doesn't like a 'lot of the modern day things you have to do in aviation. Officials had no immediate idea of the cause and could not provide an immediate damage estimate. Holtsmith said the damage would affect production at the plant, which has a normal production capacity of 50,000 barrels a day. "Certainly it will reduce the amount of light fuels that we produce, but we will be operating tomorrow," Holtsmith said. Phil Frank, a battalion chief in the Billings Fire Department, said officials initially were concerned that the smoke pouring from the refinery might be toxic.

"It worried us at first until we found out what it was," he said. "It was strickly a petroleum burn." Frank said the flames and smoke from the plant were clearly visible to hundreds of residents. Two city engine companies responded to the blaze. Conoco fire crews fought the fire with company equipment built into the plant for such emergencies. PARK CITY, Utah (UPI) Federal health experts have given Park City's Prospector Square, under a cloud during the past five years due to possible heavy metals contamination, the all clear.

There is "no evidence" of any dangerous exposures to arsenic, cadmium or lead among children ages 9 months to 5 years living in Prospector Square, Michael McGeehin of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry said Thursday. Tests conducted on 80 percent of the young children living in the residential subdivision and in other areas of the northern Utah resort community showed "no harmful levels" of any of the heavy metals, McGeehin said. While blood levels of the three metals were considered well within federal safety standards and below the national average, he did say children living in Prospector Square showed higher exposure levels than those living elsewhere in Park City. The three toxic elements were in tailings left over from Park City's silver mining days, in the 1800s and early 1900s. Prospector Square is built on a tailings pond.

A 1983 state study showed elevated During his administration, Bangerter said the state has shortened its bond payoff period from 12 years down to six "and I don't want to see that reversed." The incumbent also claimed he had cut state spending during his first term in office, while he said Wilson raised both taxes and spending. "I have been successful in cutting between 7 and 8 percent in real terms from the budget of the state of Utah in the past four years. If you look at the record over 10 years of the mayor of Salt Lake City, the exact opposite is true," he said. Wilson admitted his record was "not perfect," but he said the Ban 'Wreckage' FILLMORE, Utah (UPI) Suspected wreckage in the west-central Utah mountains turned out to be garbage Friday, sending Civil Air Patrol pilots back into the air in search of a missing Arizona plane, CAP officials said. The glittering bits of metal had been spotted late Thursday in the mountains 10 miles southeast of Fillmore, about 150 miles south of Salt Lake City, said Utah CAP Lt.

Ron Lillie. "But, when the ground search team got up there, it was just discarded camping gear and garbage," Lillie said. The Piper Tri-Pacer, piloted by Sherman Flake, 52, Chandler, "SiJ V- Explosions rock refinery If' XV v. BILLINGS, Mont. (UPI) A string of explosions rocked a Conoco Inc.

refinery Thursday, sending up flames and a stream of black smoke miles long and seriously damaging the plant, firefighters and company officials said. No injuries were reported in the blasts, which occurred at approximately 8:30 p.m. at the plant on the south fringe of town. The company's own fire crews, with backup help from the Billings Fire Department, put out the blaze in about 35 minutes. "There was serious damage, but we have no idea of the extent," said Robert Holtsmith, plant manager.

He said the explosions occurred in the area of the plant where "lighter fuels" are refined from crude oil. "The fire was in a large desulfur-izer that removes the sulfur from a mixture of gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel," he said. Holtsmith said there were "from two to five explosions" 'Splash' dunk CEDAR CITY -There's more than one way to get Wednesday "relaxing" with friends before dunked in a swimming pool, as Marc Haslam returning to the theatre to assist with that even-Cleft) is about to show fellow Utah ing's performance. (Spectrum Doug Shakespearean Festival technician Stephen Christensen) Draheim. The pair spent an hour in the pool.