Jan 12, 1999

Tar ball cleanup closes Long Beach

OLYMPIA -- Two miles of mucky tar balls have washed up on the Long Beach Peninsula, forcing closure of the beach until the mess is cleaned up. The closure was announced Friday by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. Beaches from Beards Hollow, south of Long Beach, all the way to Leadbetter Point were affected. Tar balls ranging from pea-sized to about the diameter of a nickel have been found in five- to 10-foot-wide bands on the beaches. They appear to be worst in the Ocean Park area and in coves and hooks where they are trapped. The U.S. Coast Guard and the state Department of Ecology are investigating the source of the pollution. If the source is found, a penalty could be issued to recover the cost of cleanup. Though a direct hazard to birds, fish, shellfish and people, the smelly tar balls are relatively easy to remove from the beach. Similar events have happened in previous winters along the coast, but Ecology officials said this one is worse than usual.

Water-treatment industry falters

NEW YORK (Dow Jones News) -- Economic troubles in Asia, a soft microelectronic market and negative currency translation hampered business for many water-treatment and filtration companies in 1998, culminating in weak results for the recently ended quarter. In an industry bulletin, Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst William Genco pointed out that acquisition activity slowed dramatically in the water-treatment sector in the second half of 1998 and likely won't pick up next year as both U.S. Filter Corp. and Waterlink Inc. will be busy integrating acquisitions. For the most part, the stocks, reflecting the difficult business conditions, had a "rough" year, said Richard C. Eastman, an analyst with Clearly Gull Reiland & McDevit. The 15 companies in his index, on average, were off 13 percent for the calendar year, compared with a 4 percent drop for the Russell 2000. Business for Millipore Corp., a major supplier of filtration systems to the analytical laboratory, biopharmaceutical and microelectronics markets, has been particularly difficult. Analysts polled by First Call Corp. project earnings for Millipore's fourth quarter dropping nearly 80 percent to 13 cents a share, from 48 cents. Ionics Inc., one of the leading providers of ultra pure water for the semiconductor market, has been "hammered by a downturn in microelectronics over the past 12 to 15 months," Eastman said. As a result, the company's fourth quarter should be 34 cents a share, compared with 42 cents a year ago, according to First Call. Among those companies expected to report stronger earnings than a year ago include industry leader U.S. Filter. Analysts expect the Palm Desert, Calif., company to earn 37 cents a share for its fiscal third quarter, up 20 percent from the year-ago's 31 cents, according to First Call. Osmonics Inc., of Minnetonka, Minn., should see a 38 percent jump in fourth-quarter earnings to 11 cents a share from 8 cents a year ago, according to First Call.

Toyota, GM discuss eco-friendly cars

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Co. are in discussions about jointly developing environmentally friendly vehicles. The Japanese and U.S. automakers have been in talks on such a venture since the middle of last year, when GM made a proposal for technical cooperation to develop advanced vehicle technologies. The agreement on joint developments could come this spring, Toyota officials told Japan's Kyodo news agency Monday. But GM spokesman Ed Lechtzin said Monday that there's no deadline for reaching an agreement. "We're simply talking in a whole lot of areas on what each company might be interested in," he said. The technical collaboration could involve hybrid vehicles, clean emission engines and fuel cells, Lechtzin said. Toyota and GM already cooperate on a number of projects, including a California-based joint venture to produce passenger cars and the marketing of GM's Cavalier sedans and coupes through Toyota's sales network in Japan.

Tax credits for environmental projects?

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Al Gore proposed tax credits Monday to finance nearly $10 billion in special "green bonds" that would be used to preserve open space, create community parks and preserve farmland. The proposal, which envisions $700 million in tax credits over five years, is part of a $1 billion-a-year program to promote "smart growth" strategies and stem suburban sprawl. The initiative will be part of the fiscal 2000 budget President Clinton will send to Congress next month. In unveiling the plan, Gore said the aim was to "help communities reconnect to the land and water around them" and to make an investment in "smart growth and sound community planning." The plan is one of several proposals Gore is announcing this week as he moves closer to running for president in 2000. Today, the vice president will unveil a $60 million plan to help train workers for jobs in industries facing skill shortages. The "livable communities" package announced Monday also calls for a 16 percent increase in spending on mass transit and other transportation programs, including an additional $340 million to help local governments address congestion and air pollution from cars. Gore also proposed $100 million in grants to address and manage growth, while maintaining a better quality of life. Environmentalists praised the initiative. "It's a good first step toward addressing suburban sprawl which is now the fastest growing threat to our environment," said Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. Charles Ruma, incoming president of the National Association of Homebuilders, praised Gore's transportation proposals, but said he was "leery" about the use of federal money to keep farmland away from developers. "They're out trying to purchase open space or farmland. If it's not managed correctly, we're going to see no growth," said Ruma, a builder from Columbus, Ohio. The "green bonds" would generate $9.5 billion over five years that communities and states could use to preserve or create urban parks and suburban greenways, protect farmland threatened by development, and build natural buffers to reduce pollution of waterways. Under the program, communities would have access to zero-interest financing because investors buying these bonds would receive tax credits instead of interest, officials said.

Erosion shrinks capacity of Oregon lake

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- Erosion caused by the 1997 New Year's Day flood has slightly reduced the flood-prevention capacity of Applegate Lake in southern Oregon. Based on an acoustical survey of water depths last summer, the Army Corps of Engineers figures the lake behind Applegate Dam holds about 10 percent less than it did before. "When we toured the empty lake, we saw some large erosion cutbanks there in the lake," said Russ Davidson, who manages the dam from the corps' Portland office. The corps has to wait for more funding to calculate the impact on the dam's ability to control flooding downstream in the Applegate Valley, but expects the reduced capacity will only amount to a few inches of extra water downstream.

Davies Pearson

Davies Pearson, a Tacoma law firm, has appointed James B. Lynch shareholder in the firm. Pearson practices in the areas of insurance defense, criminal law, personal injury and domestic relations. Joseph M. Diaz recently joined the firm as an associate specializing in municipal defense and general litigation. Darcy B. Luxenberg recently joined as an associate specializing in business law and business transactions.

Q-pharma

Q-pharma, Edmonds-based maker of an antioxidant toothpaste called Q-Dent, has named Jan Hess vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs. She will help manage the company's clinical trial program and is in charge of seeking approvals for the company's oral care products.

Preston Gates & Ellis

Preston Gates & Ellis announced 12 new associates have joined the firm in the Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Hong Kong offices. The new Seattle associates are: Warren Clemans, business and intellectual property law; Jason Holtman, high-tech litigation and antitrust law; Myriam Jaidi, municipal law; Harold Taw, business and intellectual property; Paul Balkan, litigation, and Neil Meyers, business law.

Foster Pepper

The publication "The Best Lawyers in America" has selected 16 lawyers from Foster Pepper & Sheffelman to include in its 1999-2000 edition. Attorneys from the firm who were listed are: banking law Richard Keefe, Kenneth Roberts and Bernard Russell; bankruptcy law Jack Cullen, Willard Hatch and Dillon Jackson; corporate law Robert Diercks; family law Sandra Saville; First Amendment law David Utevsky; health care law Bradley Berg and Lee Voorhees; real estate law Gary Fluhrer, Richard Keefe and Judith Runstad; tax law Dwight Drake and Patrick Kennedy; and trusts and estates, Joseph Gaffney. This is the eighth publication of the national survey by Woodward White Inc.

NWCCC

The Northwest Construction Consumer Council recently installed its 1999 officers. They include: Burt Newbury of Equilon as council chair; Michael Davenny of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group as vice chair; Jan Keiser of Sound Transit as secretary; Jim Howell of Mitsubishi Silicon America as treasurer; Carlton Howe of Tesoro Northwest Co. as immediate past chair; Dan Lewis of VECO Engineering as affiliate director, design; and Dan Wood of Baugh Industrial Contractors as affiliate director, construction. The council is a regional forum focusing on owners' issues in capital construction and maintenance.

Intex

Intex (Integrated Exterior Systems) has opened an office in Mill Creek to serve the Washington market. The Tualatin, Ore.-based company specializes in fabricating and installing exterior metal wall panel systems, including aluminum composite material and aluminum panel systems. It also offers a full glass and glazing service. The Mill Creek office is headed by David Thomas. The telephone number is (888) 977-9367.

Milgard

Tacoma-based Milgard Windows has opened a new office in Eagan, Minn., to expand its operations in the Midwest. The office is located at 935 Blue Gentian Road.