Jan 06, 1998

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Michael Kluse has been named associate laboratory director for national security at Richland-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Kluse will manage a staff of 275 people in the development and deployment of laboratory technology in support of national security missions. Kluse transferred from Battelle's Columbus Division where he was vice president for defense engineering in the National Security Division.

Fishing Vessel Owners Marine Ways

Seattle's Fishing Vessel Owners Marine Ways has added Leif Pedersen to its staff as marketing and customer service representative. Pedersen previously served as sales manager and project manager at Tippett Marine. Established in 1919, the firm serves a variety of fishing vessels, especially smaller wooden boats.

Ford Graphics

Kestrel, a Bellevue-based reprographics service, has merged with Ford Graphics, a Seattle-based reprographics business. Kestrel will retain its name. Former Ford Graphics Bellevue branch manager James Gigli is now operations manager for Kestrel, and Kestrel vice president Jim Simene, will retain his title and be responsible for business development.Dennis Bednar, Kestrel's founder, will act as management consultant. Ford Graphic's Bellevue location has closed, and the employees have relocated to Kestrel's Bellevue address at 1850 130th Avenue NE in the Evergreen Business Center.

Snohomish County

Andrea D. Bynum has been appointed director of corrections for Snohomish County. Bynum previously served as superintendent for the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Olympia.

Longview Fibre

Marvin M. Smith has been appointed vice president of purchasing for Longview Fibre Co. Smith will be responsible for buying equipment, parts, supplies and services for the Longview mill and other operations. Smith was previously Longview's purchasing manager. Robert M. Dorscheimer, vice president sales for the Western Container Division, retired in December after 37 years.

Cable Plus

Cable Plus, a Bellevue-based provider of cable television, telephone and alarm services to apartment complexes and condominiums, promoted Robert S. McCambridge to executive vice president, and named Jerry Gronstein as the new senior vice president and chief financial officer. McCambridge will be responsible for customer originations, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances. Gronstein was formerly president of Red Sail Merchandising.

Pacific Lutheran University

Pacific Lutheran University is launching a two-year Master of Business Administration Saturday program with specialization in technology and innovation management in the fall of 1998. This program combines the reputation of PLU's long-standing MBA program with the opportunity to gain essential skills without interrupting a career. For more information on evening or Saturday MBA programs at PLU, call Jan Dempsey, director of graduate programs, at 253-535-7250, or email business@plu.edu, or visit the website.

Gores & Blais

Blair C. Stone has recently joined Gores & Blais, a Seattle law firm specializing in estate planning and administration. Stone will focus her practice on estate planning and charitable giving.

Lanoga Corp.

Reba A. Mart has been named controller/assistant treasurer at Lanoga Corp., a privately-held Redmond-based building materials retailer. Mart, a certified public accountant, has been with Lanoga since 1987.

'Power Summit' on energy deregulation set

SEATTLE -- On Jan. 14, Rep. Rick White will lead a "Power Summit" that will examine the impacts of energy deregulation in the Pacific Northwest. Topics to be discussed include: History of Power in the Northwest; Industry Perspectives in the Northwest; Retail Competition -- The Impact on the Northwest; and The Role of Congress and the State Legislature. Co-chairs of the daylong event are: Sen. Slade Gorton; Sen. Patty Murray; Rep. Norm Dicks; Rep. Jim McDermott; Rep. Jennifer Dunn; Rep. Doc Hastings; Rep. George Nethercutt; Rep. Linda Smith; Rep. Jack Metcalf; and Rep. Adam Smith. The Northwest Environmental Business Council (NEBC) is one of many organizations co-sponsoring the Power Summit. "Energy deregulation affects the rivers and the fish. ... A lot of the bigger environmental companies are going to be affected by this," said Alice DeVault of the NEBC. The Power Summit will meet at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center at Pier 66 on Alaskan Way in Seattle. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m., and the program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. The registration fee of $49 covers the cost of meals. To pre-register or receive more information, call (206) 441-6369.

Lime Kiln Point to be protected

SAN JUAN ISLAND -- In an effort to protect a large tract of pristine waterfront property from private development, the San Juan County Land Bank last week purchased 175 acres of forested uplands north and east of Lime Kiln Point State Park for $2.3 million. Located on the west side of San Juan Island, the area is known for its spectacular views of Haro Strait. The 175-acre acquisition is the Land Bank's largest purchase to date. The property includes 420 feet of waterfront land and a pond at the base of Mt. Dallas. With this latest purchase, the county now manages nearly 200 acres at Lime Kiln Point. In 1995, the San Juan County Land Bank acquired 15 acres at Deadman Bay. The non-profit organization Trust for Public Land (TPL) was involved in both the Deadman Bay purchase and last week's Lime Kiln purchase. The Land Bank asked TPL to act as an independent negotiator with the landowners. "It's especially gratifying to see the final puzzle piece put in place for protection of such an important public waterfront," said Peter Scholes, director of TPL's Washington program and project manager for the Lime Kiln acquisition. The county says it plans to study the Lime Kiln property to evaluate its ecological and recreational resources. A portion of the property may be identified for future residential development. "In looking at the possibility of reselling portions of the property, we will be particularly mindful of protecting the unique natural qualities of the land," Land Bank steward Betsy Maier said.

Appeals Court upholds ruling on oil dumping

PORTLAND (AP) -- The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a key charge against two oil companies and six employees accused of dumping oil residue off the Oregon Coast. U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm F. Marsh ruled in 1996 that the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships was unconstitutionally vague as it applied to the case. The investigation was prompted by a man who sailed as a mate on the tanker and later participated in an Oregon beach cleanup. A federal grand jury in 1996 indicted the defendants on five counts, with the key charge being conspiracy to violate the law by dumping more than 20,000 gallons of crude oil residue and other debris off the Oregon Coast from 1990 to 1993. Marsh ruled that the law did not clearly distinguish between oil refuse and sludge composed of oil constituents cleaned from the hold of a ship. The government appealed, but a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court affirmed Marsh's ruling on Dec. 29. Robert B. Ross, assistant U.S. attorney, said he intended to proceed with the remaining four counts of transportation for the purpose of ocean dumping. Mark Topel, attorney for Apex Oil Co. of Missouri, said the decision was appropriate because federal laws need to be clear. Even though his clients had triumphed, Topel said the effect of the prosecution was to change the maritime practice of dumping drums of oil residue and other debris related to cleaning out ships. Both sides expect federal rules governing the dumping of oil residue to be clarified as a result of the ruling.

Hanford thyroid study enters analysis phase

SPOKANE (AP) -- A federal study to find out whether people exposed to radioactive iodine releases at the Hanford nuclear reservation have a higher incidence of thyroid disease has entered a new phase, an official said last week. The data-collection phase of the $18 million Hanford Thyroid Disease Study by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle ended in September, when the last clinic was held, project manager Peggy Adams Myers said. Now, data collected from medical exams and telephone questionnaires will be analyzed and sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Myers said. A draft report is expected by the end of September 1998, with final conclusions at the end of the year or early 1999. The results should give the study's 3,566 participants an answer to the question of whether they are at a greater-than-average risk of thyroid disease. "We will never be able to tell an individual, 'Your disease was or was not caused by Hanford emissions,' " Myers said. "But we will be able to tell people either they are, or are not, at a greater risk of thyroid disease. It's a peace-of-mind issue." Researchers used Washington state birth records to identify about 5,200 people born in seven counties near the federal Hanford reservation between 1940 and 1946. From 1943 until the mid-1970s, radioactive chemicals and gases were released -- accidentally and intentionally -- from reactors and plants that made uranium and plutonium for nuclear weapons. Radioactive iodine-131, a short-lived byproduct of those processes, attacks the thyroid gland. Children living near the reservation were exposed to iodine principally through milk from cows that ate contaminated grass, or through leafy vegetables from local gardens. The majority of the study participants, about 2,350, live in Washington state. The remainder now live in nearly all 50 states and outside the United States. Participants were asked to fill out questionnaires about their health, to undergo physical examinations by physicians who are thyroid experts and to submit to blood and thyroid ultrasound tests. Researchers then called the participants' mothers or other close relatives to try to determine their early eating habits -- especially the amounts of local milk and vegetables consumed in childhood, Myers said. The information was then plugged into a computer model developed by the Hanford Dose Reconstruction Study to come up with individual estimates of iodine doses based on where the participants lived, what they ate and other factors, she said. "If we find the most thyroid disease in people with higher doses, it is an indication that means the higher the dose, the more disease," she said. "If we find there is no correlation, then the dose doesn't have anything to do with thyroid disease." One of the difficulties was getting people to remember their daily lives 50 years ago, Myers said. "When you're asking someone's mom what their child ate as an infant, how much milk they drank ... it's hard to remember," Myers said. The study staff worked with a psychiatrist to help people remember, she said. Another difficulty was locating people who have moved. The researchers found about 95 percent of the 5,200 people they set out to locate, "which is astounding," Myers said. Of those, she said about 700 refused to participate in the study. "Some were anxious to find answers, some we had to talk into participating, and others didn't really feel they had been affected," Myers said. "It ran the whole gamut."