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-AA<.o Joe Wheed, News Service Branch Jemmary 24,19M
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Division of Public Information NQ l
Bale J. Ceek, Assistant Information Officer, SAN
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accesa. Po6E arf rAKr 006 GEOLOGY AMMDeerf g, 2. W F1 RJC Atteshed are clips free area newspapers based en the PSE release severtag its filias of ' h t 5 to the ett11ty's j
i Bodegs #weer Plant application. The test of the release use T W'd to yes earlier today. This subetesise Amstedes the Chreatela's interview with Dr. Quaide expressing "seeerwatisme" about site suitability.
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Attachemets:
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- 1. Clip, S.F. Chronicle, 1/28/M
- 2. Clip, 8.F. Eseminer, 1/28/ M i
- 3. Clip, Santa Besa Press Desserst, 1/27/ M
- 4. Ltr. to Editor, Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 1/26/M
- 5. Clip, Oakland Tribune, 1/27/64 j
Q, w/attachs.
cca lEarold Price, REG S
Robert Leuensteilia,W,~MQ, Tw/attachs.
F. K. Pittman, DRD, MQ, w/attachs.
J. D. Lyman, DPI, BQ, w/ attacks.
R. W. Smith, Comp 1. V., SAN, w/ attacks.
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PL COOK st 1/28/M f f 2 & O B51217
/ F F' FIRESTOB5-665 PDR
Assurances Bd aga Dispute
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I In any major fault zone :
And Dissent Che om J he end Mari1 ave seid rester '
[- hhhh, d dD day, there ucre bound to be
" minor auxiliary fractures.
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' SUPERFICIAL'
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E:.":a j "The great majority of w
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such auxiliary fractures arc,
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whm.l il<trris qu le superficial in nature, even though appear, g spec-m i
r.' ports descr,bing IIcad as a safe From T> age I RADIATION tacular to the layman," con,
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"Those w o r k i n g at the tinued the two scientists !
' a nuclear power National Aeronautics and plant would receive massive:
retained by PG&E.
p:mu uere issued yestcr-Space Administration at Mof' doses of radiation," he con.-
"The (fractures) involve,.
and day by the Pacific Cas, thin fett Field, declared in an tinued. "How much e f f e e tI movements of u n s t a b,1 e Electnc Co. - but wi interview.,
- there would be in the vicinity, f masses of surface materials hours one of the experts The reports themselves re ' I don't know."
under the influence of the disclosed he has developed jected last u cck's warning by Dr. Quaide said he had not' vibratory motions associated severe doubts.
two Government geologists yet decided how great the with the carthquake.., y.c "We have to be very care-who told the Atomic Energy danger would be. lie added-are firmly of the opmion fut not to make a jgdgment Commission the controversial he expects to be subpoenaed '
that movements of this nature will in no way constt which would endanger any-325,000-kilwatt power station as a witness when the AEC tute a hazard to the plant. ;
- one's life."
Dr.
Wiillam would be vulnerable to severe holds a hearing on the plant lQuaide, a geologist with the earthquakes.
later this year. By then, he Tocher and Marliave said said, he hopes ta be ready to they found the break in the l
See Page 10, Col. 6 "SCITABLE" make a firm recommenda-granite wall was extremely The icngthiest. and most tion.
'imited in size. It did not recent, of the studies carried the unequivocal conclusion Tocher and Marliave dis I extend all the way across,
.igreed with Government ge I te 140-foot-wide pit, t'ney!
of Dr. Don Tocher, seismolo-clogists Julius Schlocker and said, and it only continued:
gist at the. University of M. G. Bonilla, who concluded into the bedrock a n o t h e r California's Berkeley campus' that an earthquake along the three and one-half feet.
and Elmer C. Mar 11 ave, Sac-volatile San Andreas fault' SLUMPING j
ramento geologist.
equal to that of 1906 could "No. movements hayc-
"The site is suitable for cause a " rupture"in the rock occurred on any faults cut-the proposed plant," they at Bodega Head.
ting the reactor site in at said flatly.
i Tocher and M a' r 1i a y c:
least the past 40,000 years
- But Dr. Qua,de said ' the replied, "Any possib'e move-and probably not for 100.000 two reports he prepared-ments that might ' occur '
or more years," Tocher and one.as sole author and the would be of such miror
,Tiarliate continued.. "The
, other as co-author with Dr.
smount as to be negligible."
Pfew minor offsets in the sedi-Tocher-were written before In earlice studies, Tocher'
.ments can ucl1 be attributed the discovery of an earth, and Martiave had advised I quake fault in a 73-foot deep j PG&E 'that it mi;ht safdy to slumping or differential C0" lidatio" "
shaft at the reactor site.
, One of his studies was pre I build its $G1 million ruciere j The four$ report, by Dr.
pared m mid 1902, and the j plant on Bodega
' HuEo Benloff'the Californi: professo licad. 50 miles north of San Francisco cismology at
-other covered the period ' on the Sonoma county coast. !
Institute of Technology. sah from May 2G to July l,' '
Tocher acknowledged last' be built ot 19G3. The fault was uncov. October that the discovery of.
j'suu N ults which wil ae cred early as 11.
the break in the bedrock had j suff r no significant dama;e.
"There is a chance thati H The PG&E findings has the fault could break be said he was not sMously '
been sent to Washington fc d urbed.
j j ncath the plant's site in case study by the Atomic Energ j of an e a r t h q u a k e," Dr.
Commission.
Quaide said.
-~"-
"I still think the probabil-ity is low. I think I would be willing to live near the plant with my f amily. Dut it is nec-sue:ry to face the moral is-essa f
'If there is even a slight chance of danger, should we go a h e a d and build the plant?"
The problem, Dr. Quaide.
said. is that an earthquake l causing slippage of the rock' beneath the plant would re-lease radioactive fuel.
I h
aew d' eport Backs
.Examincr-Pege11
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.The two major conflicts be-1 D
tween the Tocher Marliave T)0 EeFJ -
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.ana usGs schlocker Boni11.
O findinc.s were these:
Bodega Head is a suitable fault may extend to within e Schlocker and Bonilla -
reported that two dikes '
site for the proposed Pacific 1,000 feet of the pit.
thin walls of intrustive rocks Gas & Electric Co. 325,000
- Secondary faulting in the bedrock on Bodega Head in the dominant quartz dio -
kiloutt atomic. fueled elec-tric generating plant, two in-n"t i ely to be a rite under Bodega Head S za d t were fractured and shifted dependent experts reported a soundly. constructed nu.
to the Atomic Energy Com-clear reactor or electric pow-by-strong carth movements mission yesterday.
er plant.
from 2% feet fo ll feet.
Seismologist Don Tocher and Geologist E. C. Marliave, both hired by PGLE to make-the report. concluded that there is no evidence of any I
earthquake faulting "since l.
overlying ' sediments w e r e laid down on the gigantic bedrock more than 40,000 years ago."
T h e Tocher Marliave re-port found the quartz diorite reactor foundation on Bode-ga Head "is ainply stror.g."
CONFLICTING VIEWS The report was in conflict in several phases with those of U.S. geological scientists released by the AEC last week. A fault in the nuclear reactor pit, ascribed to carth-l quake movement by.1ulius l
Schlocker and AL G. Ponilla I
of USGS. was termed a "mi-nor offset" by Tocher and Marliave.
' The Tocher Martiave report stressed these points:
. e Offset or faults found in the u p p e r sediments are probably caused by " slump-ing on a grand scale" of wa-ter saturated sediments long
- ago, o Fractures and faults in California rocks are almost universal.
e Quartz diorite underly-ing Bodega Head is "as good as the rock that might be found at any site up or down the coast for miles and is superior to most" as a build.
ing site.
e The active zone in the San Andreas Fault is prob-l ably a mile east of the pro-posed reactor pit, although the eastern boundary of the
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. _ c,2%.x,;.;w,.,,,xd SITE OP PROPOSED NUCLE AR. FUELED POWER PLANT 1
PG&E's Earthquake Experts Say It's Safe l
Dm T'Lxpens Cialm l
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-CuL Bodeg'w-DnunM //.nNYa One hxce lent, i
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,ft X.& u i i
Pacific Cas & Electric Co.;
-No evidence of be d r o c k The scientists' findings are in carthquake consultants h a y e.
The proposed Bodega plant movements in "much more"Ito conclusions r concluded that Bodega Head is! util be subject of a public dis-than 40,000 years turned up.
construction of a nuclear reac.j cussion at,
unc an " excellent location fer the p.in Vednesda
_4tovements on subsidiary ed States Geological Survey ge..
n room
-(
faults in bedrock of the reac-!
f Unhersny tor,"
of Caliform,a at for area are not expected to SW in a uport dasd a UnMey. Speakers w1U -occur well beyond the lifetime week ago.
In a report to the Atomic En l be 1
IIarold Strube, 4
ergy Commission released to f PGLE,s 'of the plant. Any movementj The government experts, in a day, seismologists, geologistt
" pe st, that might possibly occur would' report submitted to the AEC, and engineers review latest evi; o..dnd n' e Nor hern al.
be of such minor amounts as said they cowd not de crmine o{f to bv: negligible."
- the age of the latest faulting at dence of the site and find:
alongl! Bodega llead and liarbor.
g
-Earthquake activity
--The character of ground the plant site, but said in the the San Andreas fault zone' motion at the site from an event of an earthquake - ccm.
during the lifetime of the plant' icarthquake along the San An. parable to the 1906 disaster and for a long time thereafterl -No evidence was found of dreas fault "is such that with " rupturing of near-surface gran-is. very likely to occur more,"any active fault cutting the' good engineering practice strue.!itic bedrock would be expected than a' mile cass of the reactor: ground surface in the vicinity tures can be built which wil!+somewhere on Boclega Head "
site."
lot the site."
suffer no significant damage."j (Continued on Page 2, Col. 2) 1 l
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' - i'% Q (V 72 "3
N&L hDerts Claim c
f 11 i'r," W k #.e/ A 1/ W Bodega Bay ' Excellent' 3
(Continued from Page 1) jshowed them to be "probably' compaction origin is " highly un-The.y added that while the. older, perhaps much older than likely,"
pmportant zone of weakness"jl38.000 to 40,000 years ago. Ergo, fau!t in the reactor site "is an On the contrary, they found no movements have occurred on that could move if h i g h l y -
support for the theory that the stressed by an earthquake, they!any faults cutting the reactor site in at ! cast the past 40.000 gramtic fault is of earthquake could not say movement would years, and probably not for 100,- origin, and say the evidence in-Consulting geologtst Wituarr fr ep rting the per
.take place along that fault in 000 or more years."
dicates the offsets in the sedi-ay l preference to cthers on Dodega USGS g e o l o g i s t s Juh,us rnent were also of carthquake (before the site fault wa's dil i
- licad.
p%chlocker and Manuel G. Boni! lorigin.
covered) reports in detail on thc j But they Jsted that move,la looked at the same problem As for the likelihood of future geology of the site and find:
l ment to be expected would be;and arrived at somewhat dif-
."on the order of a few feet,Ifer, it conclusions in their re. movements along ' subsidiary,,
a probability of a fault b k sing on Bodega Head in a 10$
cither horizontally or vertical-por. of last weck.
faults, PG&E's consultants re-year period to be " extremely l-ly,"
Fuptures in the sediments, cite their conclusion that there low," and while the headlanc PG&E has applied to the AEC t h c y concluded, " evidently was no movement near the site is undergoing uplift (as are for permission to build the con-' formed during the latest move-in the "recent geolog,c past" other localitics), "the rate of i
troversial plant. The USGS re-ment along this fault," which and argue that "these frac-uplift appears to be insignifi-
, port of last week was the sec-they think was a "Jargely hori-tures are not likely to suddenly cant in terms of the life expect-icnd done by that department, zor.tal" movement.
again become active in the next ancy of the plant."
h'and tcday's utility company re.
They found the geological evi. carthquake on the associated Finally, the latest PG&E re-ort was another addition to its dence " inconclusive" on, the principal fault."
port to the AEC contains a application for the permit.
poir.t of fault activity.
"From th e scismic hazard Tocher-Qualde report on inves<
The AEC said it will holdj "The field evidence may be standpoint," says the final con-tigation of the so-called " John-hearing's in Santa Rosa on the interpreted to indicate that the!clusion of, the T o e h e r-Mar-son Fault" mapped by geologist application, but no date has last movemerst took place more have portion of the PG&E re-F. A. Johnson in 19?A.
been set Latest speculation is than 42,000 years ago," the gov. port, "the quartz diorite bed-They conclude that "no geo.
that the hearing will be some-crnment geologists reported.
rock nf Bodega Head is as good logist could state conclusively time this spring.
"On the other hand," they as the rock that might be found that a fault does not exist wher'e said, "it is just as reasonable at any site up er down the coast Johnson has shown one" on the Controversial Fault to postulate that displacement for many miles, and is superior southwest side of the headlands A critical geological issue in n the granitic rock at some to most. The site is suitable
- there is "litt!c probability" that the controversy is the true nt-more recent time ruptured the for the proposed plant."
lone exists.
ture of a fault fcund last Sep-lowest of the sedimentary de.
The latest PG&E document tember in the site during ex-pm ts by shearing, whereas the Slip Unlikely adds considerably to the stack cavation of the 142. foot diame~ sediments higher in the section Somewhat stronger language of evidence and conclusion on ter cylindrical shaft in which absorb 2d the differential move. is used in conclusions of a re-the plant site geology.
- the reactor would sit.
ment."
view of the situation by PG&E Much earlier in the game-The crack in the bedrock was As for the origin of what the consultant Hugo Benioff, who last August-Dr. Pierre Saint-l one of many found there; it was USGS geologists call a rupture said it is "very unlikely" there Amand, internationally known the only one that gave evidence in the lower level of the sedi. would be a slip along " minor earthquake expert, called it a of continuing upward into sedt-mentary deposits, the PG&E auxihary fault" such as the one "very poor" site, found " spec.
ments deposited on the rock aft-consultants discount the possi. crossmg the reactor site and tacular" fault evidence there er it was formed.
bility cf an earthquake but lists a series of reasons the site and expressed concern about the Whether it indeed centinues cleave to the landslide and "dif. is an " excellent location" for the possiblity of uplift of the plant.
into relatively-new s,ediments is ferential consolidation" theory, reactor.
Somcwhat later, but before' a major question; if the sedt-Consultants Tocher and Mar.
Among them: The "ncarest the site fault was discovered.!
meirs shifted in response to a 1 ave write that it is " clear that possible location for a break USGS carthquake expert Dr. !
movement m the underlying the hypothesis that the sediment along the San Andreas Fault J. P. Eaton indicated a "reas I bedrock, that would indicate offsets were generated by a sud-l zone is 1,000 feet away, although onable doubt" about the plant!
more recent movement than if den movement on one of the'that is " extremely improba-safety.and that it is "not anI su;;;ested slips in the sediments fault plancs in the underlying ble;" It is likely to be further adequately safe location for a!
were due to some other cause. bedrock runs counter to obser. to the east.
nucicar power plant."
I PG&E consulting seismologist vations."
Probability of movement along T
J Don Tocher and Elmer C. Mar.
USGS geologists Schlocker and the site fault is " extremely re-
- llave, geologist, report they Bonilla, however, reviewed the mote."
think that "the few minor off-cvidence and decided that it will
" Good engineering practice" sets in the sediments can well not support landsliding and that can result in structures that will I be attributed to slumping or dif-suffer "no significant damage" ferential consolidation."
from motions expected at the, In any event, they say, there site.
4 were no "significant offsets" in
" sediments at elevations higher than 25 feet above sea level.
Carbon dating of sediments as high as 49 feet above sea level l
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6 LET TH5. PUBI,,1C)_ PEAK av4j /tv i Pro-A.w.,,ic Plant-uc tom 1
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c Letters Get Reply EDITOR: How nice of you ' sullied with s u s p i e i o u s' '
j to provide such grand enter-thoughts, I recommend John tainment ~ in your " letters" G? Fuller's The Gentlemen l
co'umn on a miserable rainy Conspirators for. revealing j
day!
' reading.)
There was that courageous All in alt the last two para-
" Reader" from Santa Rosa graphs in Mr. Stroubo'r. letter
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who fear!cssly and anony. gave me the most pleasure.
mously took swipe's at the op-' First he stated that Mr. Forb-position to the Bodega plant. es declared that Con' Ed's I{is bri!!iant logie left us. faith in the future of nuclear j
breathless. Ecrause the oppo-power in the New York City
. sition believes former AEC
- area ren.ains undiminished..
chairman Lilienthal has made Then he states in attempted some interesting points re. analogy that PG&E's confi-1 gard;ng atomic energy, dence in atomic power like-
" Reader"is r.s'ounded to find wise remains undiminished.
they do not place undivided Proper parallelism s h o u ! d '
l trust in the present commis. have stated PG&E's undying sion of the AEC. Rather like -confidence in Bodega, but-5 yin 2: Well. if you think Abe that part was conspicuous by
. Lineo!n was an able presiden:. 'ils absence. It is ciuite con-why aren't you equally fond ceivable that the company's of ifarding?
trust.in Bodega is beginning Both " Reader" and Mr, to crack! -
Stroube would like us to be-
. MAGRITA F. KLASSEN lieve that the word " fact" h Sonoma synonymous with the word
" truth", Let's stick to t h e facts, this game is called, of which Mr. Stroubo especial-ly is most fond. The fact is that Con Ed made a public
.Siatement. The content of the statement does not therefor become automatically and leg-
!cally the unadulterated truth.
Few of us are so inexpe-rienced as to believe that pub-lic statements from big corp.
orations are models of verac-ity. (For t, hose who are so un-w
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DeCegaQuakePeG
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rp o r-LJerHGQ OV <g "c2 m
i DM ta d. *~$r; b en e -
,( a.~tl u l Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
character of the sediments." the has answered critics of a pro. scientists wrote. "is surprising in view of the proximity of the
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posed plan to build a nuc! car re-San Andreas faWt zone and by actor at finde4a Head in Sono. comparison with other sedimen-.
ma County by publishing a sci-tary formations near the fault :
catific study stating that i.o in other areu."
carthr;uakes have effected the The two sc:entists wrote that i prolmed reactor site for 40,0m other studies showing signifi..
cant faults in the sediments years.
were not found by them and the The study farther conclud(d that findings indicate I u t u r e reports of these hwe been "torted. overemphasized" and... " dis-earthquakes are highty unlikely to cause any damage at the site
- By testing the sediment sam-
)
during the lifetime of the nu.
Continued Page 2, Col. 3 clear plant.
And to emphasize the lack of danger in building a reactor on DOG'ega No O
the site. the PG&E study de-clared that bGdings can now he designed and constructed to virtually clininale d a m a g c g
ne g from earthquakes.
MM KGK l
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The PC&E study Is now in the
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l hands of the U.S. Atomic Ener-gy Commission. Il y as' under-at C
v v"f taken by Dr. Don Tocher head
- n. C3 a of the University of California seismolngy department, and Continued from Page 1 E. C. Marliave, a consulting pies at various elevations with geologist.
an atomic time sampler, they The purpose of the study was found tiu ! sediments taken at to dispel public fear that an elevation; as high as 49 feet atomic installation located so have not been disturbed,n at i
close to the San Andreas fault least 40.000 years and possibly zone would be dangerous.
100.000 years, The study was carried out at The scientists added "that the site scene, where the com-movements on subsidiary faults pany has excavated a pit 142 in the bedrock of the reactor feet in diameter at a depth of area are not expected to occur 73 fect.
The layers of sediment over-for,a period well beyond the lifetime of the plant. Any move-lying the quartz type bedrock of ment that might possibly occur the pit-on which the reactor would be of such mmor amount is to be built, have barely been as to be negligible.
disturbesi by earthquakes,it was "The site is suitable for the found.
proposed plant." they concluded.
"The relatively undisturbed The study supplemented other l
geological studies of the area, 5
which reached the same general conclusion.
One by Dr. Hugo Benioff, Cali-s' fornia Institute of Technology professor of seismology, de-y-clared that while Central Cali-8 fornia is due for a damag ng earthquake, the Bodega area is '
i not.
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