The record, 21 août 1991, mercredi 21 août 1991

’ f « 40 cents Russians ready for Revolution II?By Carole Landry MOSCOW (CP) — Thousands of pro-democracy supporters took up positions around the Russian parliament on Tuesday.pledging to defend President Boris Yeltsin and what they called "their only government." They shouted "Yeltsin! Yeltsin!" Their leader was inside, co-ordinating resistance against Monday's coup which toppled Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev The demonstrators also built makeshift barricades against attack by nearby Soviet troops, wanned themselves by campfires against a chill rain and tried desperately to keep up with news on the fast-shifting crisis.Demonstrators have blocked all access roads to the building, known here as the White House because of its color, w ith barricades built from overturned buses, concrete blocks and slabs of upturned asphalt.Tank traps improvised from iron girders were spread around the area."We took these buses from the street and put them there with our own hands." said Basil Smolianov, a radio technician.About 40 tanks and military vehicles which had defected from nearby Soviet army encampments to defend Yeltsin and his government were parked nearby, proudly flying Russian flags.More than a kilometre away, about 50 armored vehicles moved along the avenue accompanied by regional police loyal to the coup leaders.As night approached people Afghan vets behind coup?— Page 2 continued to converge on the building despite a ban on demonstrations and a curfew is-s u e d b y t h e K m e r g e n c y Committee.FEAR ATTACK Yeltsin said Tuesday he feared an army assault on the building.But Soviet acting president Gennady Yanayev promised him later that he'll prevent any attack on the parliament.Inside the towering white See RUSSIANS:.Page 2.WEDNESDAY August 21, 1991 Yyer s niff Kair l .-mm Kun tin ttu eiilirv Births, deaths .10 Classified .8 Comics .9 Editorial .4 f arm & Business .5 Living .6 Sports .II Townships .3 WIE ATHEE Page 2 Domtar leak spills fuel oil :y ¦¦Ill ' ^ ^ ''' gil - „ 22; .4 series of emergency booms helped limit the damage Tuesday when thousands of gallons of fuel oil spilled out of a tank at a Domtar paper mill, and into the St.Francis River in Windsor.For the full story, turn the page.kicokik.kam simion Angry mobs mass in Soviet cities; compromise is nowhere in sight By Jim Sheppard MOSCOW (CP) — Soviet soldiers and anti-coup protesters clashed briefly outside the besieged Russian parliament building early today, leaving at least two people dead, witnesses reported.But as of 3:30 a.m.local time, there was no sign of the long-feared massive army assault on the symbol of resistance to Monday's coup by hardline Communists and military leaders who ousted President Mikhail Gorbachev.In fact, there were widespread although mostly unconfirmed reports the coup’s leadership was fast unravelling with sources saying the country's prime minister, defence minister and KGB chief had stepped down.Witnesses said coup opponents leaped on top of a Soviet tank and were shot by the troops inside.They said two bodies, both dead, were lying under sheets near the U.S.Embassy close to the parliament building.There were unconfirmed reports of another death or deaths, plus up to a dozen in ju red coup opponents.Agence France-Presse, quoting deputy of the Russian parliament, said four Soviets died and one U.S.national was run over by an armored vehicle outside the Russian parliament Ten people were injured in the violence when armored vehicles tried to breach a first line of barricades.Viktor Aksyuchits said in a briefing of deputies still inside parliament building.Aksyuchits said he regretted tight security inside parliament prevented deputies from meeting demonstrators to avert unnecessary violence.ATTACKS TANKS Demonstrators triggered a clash in one incident by throwing molotov cocktails on tanks.Aksyuchits said.A spokesman for the U.S.Embassy said he had not heard of a U.S.citizen being run over Yeltsin told ABC-TV on Tuesday he believed his telephone contacts with President George Bush and British Prime Minister John Major dissuaded the coup leaders from mounting a tank attack against his stronghold.Earlier reports of shooting near the building prompted widespread fears the long-anticipated Soviet military assault on the symbol of resistance to the coup had begun.But 2Vi hours later, it was clear no such attack was taking place.The brief clashes came only hours after reports surfaced three of the key coup leaders may have been replaced.The nightly Soviet television news program Vremya reported Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov stepped down because of ill health.Vremya said his place on the eight-man coup leadership committee had been taken by deputy prime minister Vitaly Doguzhiyev.Two other unconfirmed reports said armed forces chief of staff Gen.Mikhail Moiseyev had taken over from Defence Minister Dmitri Yazov who was also reported ill.KGB HEAD OUT?The Soviet news agency Interfax then reported early today KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, another coup organizer.had also been replaced.it was impossible to confirm Sgc ANGRY MOBS:, Page 2.Exile governments for Baltic states By Leslie Shepherd RIGA.U.S.S.R.(CPi— Estonia's parliament declared immediate independence Tuesday and said parliamentary elections would be held next year on the basis of a new constitution.Estonia also made plans to establish a government in exile, fearing a Soviet military assault on its parliament buildings to arrest its leaders.Soviet troops have already seized key buildings, destroyed customs posts and cut off all communications as thev clam- Quebec may appeal seniority ruling ped down on the independence-minded Baltic republics of Lithuania.Latvia and Estonia.In a late-night session in the barricaded parliament building in Tallinn's old town, deputies voted unanimously for the declaration.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Eve Tarm said.Estonia, which like the two other Baltic republics was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940.last year declared sovereignty and said it was entering a transition phase — including talks with the Kremlin — that would eventually lead to independence.But deputies said the over- throw of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meant the republic could not restore its prewar in dependence through talks with central authorities.There were conflicting reports about whether Lithuania and Latvia were going to establish governments in exile.It was difficult to confirm details because telephone lines were cut and telex lines were working only sporadically between Moscow and the Baltic capitals.But Soviet military movements were reported in all three republics and attacks Sec LX I LE:.Page 2.MONTREAL (CP) — A Quebec Superior Court ruling upholding the law designed to halt illegal strikes by public-sector employees might be ap pealed, government and labor officials say."An appeal is a possibility." Marie-Claire Ouellet.press aide to Health Minister Marc-Yvan Côté, said in a telephone interview Tuesday from Que bec City.Ouellet said Côté and government lawyers will study Justice Pierre Viau's 2(Hi page ru ling "long and hard" before deciding whether to appeal.Law 160.the back to-work legislation adopted in 1986.alio wed the provincial government to dock one year of seniority for each day nurses spent on the picket lines during an illegal strike in fall 1989.It also permitted deduction of two days' pay for each day a worker remained off the job and fines of up to $100 a day.and ordered hospitals to stop collecting union dues from employees who walked out.Viau ruled Monday that the government was justified in levying heavy fines and holding back the pay of striking health care workers.But he also concluded that docking seniority was too harsh.The judgment can be appea led within 30 days.STUDY RULING Lawyers for the 40,000- member Quebec Federation of Nurses are studying the ruling to see whether to appeal parts of it.federation vice-president Chantal Pagé said Tuesday.Legal counsel for the Confederation of National Trade Unions and the Centrale de renseignement du Québec, the province's largest teachers' federation.are doing the same thing.Page said.The nurses’ federation, the trade union confederation and the teachers' union joined forces to challenge Law 160’s constitutionality in Superior Court.Trade union confederation officials favorably greeted Viau's decision on seniority but deplored his stand on monetary penalties, confederation vice-president Monique Simard said Monday.Page agreed, saying her federation welcomed the decision that the section of Law 160 dealing with seniority was found invalid while "we were less enthusiastic" about the ruling on pay and union dues.Federation members, the hardest hit in the health-care sector, paid out more than $3.6 million in fines and lost wages under Law 160.Teachers' federation vice-president Monique Richard said her group had hoped Viau would have recognized the "excessive character" of Law 160's monetary penalties.The agreement reached in June between labor and the government concerning the lost seniority still left the legislation intact.Richard pointed out.The union common front agreed to drop its 176,000 grievances related to Law 160 in exchange for Cote restoring seniority to the approximately 70.00(1 workers affected by the legislation.All three labor leaders said Viau's ruling on the seniority supports the June agreement.Inuit to talk constitution OTTAWA (CP) — The organization representing the Inuit agreed Tuesday to set up a constitutional committee to consult with its people, other aboriginal groups and to negotiate with the federal government.But a spokesman forthe Inuit Tapirisat was not ready to la bel the committee the organization's version of the so-called parallel process."We think this structure is the most efficient and effective way for Inuit to develop and refine our constitutional prin ciplcs." said Jack Hicks, cxe cut ive director of the Tapirisat "And (it's) also the most effi- cient way to communicate them to the government and the public at large." Hicks said the committee will have a mandate far broa der than that envisioned forthe parallel process agreed to earlier this summer by Constitutional Affairs Minister Joe Clark and Ovide Mercredi, president of the Assembly of First Nations.Under that agreement, na live organizations would consult their people to tormu late a constitutional position.The process is to be funded b\ the federal government It is called the parallel pro cess because it will work in tandem with a parliatnentary committee that will travel the country sounding out Canadians on the federal government's constitutional package.That package of pro posais is scheduled to be made public next month.The Inuit committee, which is headed by Tapirisat president Rosemarie Kuptana.will work with the three other aboriginal groups where there is common ground.Hicks said."We re committed 10 working with the other organi zations.But that doesn't neces-sarilv mean one process »» I • # Kl COM) ORAN I SIMEON MjCICK.Hi 10WHÏ For six-year-old \ Hi son Tamblyn, a native of l.ennoxville now living in Hamilton, there is no other place to be in summer than in the l.ennoxville Muncipal pool.Fach summer Allison and her family venture back to town; she says it's for the swim program she began when she was IS months old. 2—The RECORD—Wednesday, August 21.1991 Afghan war veterans behind the coup ?By Warren Caragata OTTAWA (CP) —Sov iet Interior Minister Boris Hugo, a hardliner of Latvian birth, and his deputy, a hero of the war in Afghanistan, are two key leaders of the coup that ousted Mikhail Gorbachev, says a Soviet affairs analyst.Gennady Yanayev, Gorbachev’s vice-president and head of the Committee of State Emergency that spearheaded the coup Monday, is a figurehead.a "grey blur." said Carl Jacobsen, director of the Institute of Soviet and East European Studies at Carleton University and an expert in Soviet military affairs.Jacobsen has headed a project using a computer database to track military and security personnel and activities since the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall.He presented a paper last month on his findings to a conference on Soviet military affairs in Bedford.N.S., that drew experts from around the ANGRY Continued from last page the reports because the coup leadership maintained silence all Tuesday and into the early hours of this morning.It was also impossible to determine whether the reports indicated a serious split in the ranks of coup leadership.The coup leaders who overthrew President Mikhail Gorbachev two days ago imposed an 11 p.m.toSa.m.local time(4 p.m.EST to lü p.m.EST) curfew on the capital in a bid to break the back of the fastgrowing resistance movement.But most of the demonstrators outside the parliament building refused to budge, emboldened by fiery speeches from their leader, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and by a stunning day during which the new hardline government inexplicably failed to act to enforce the six-month state of emergency it imposed Monday.The protesters promised to stay behind their makeshift barricades of overturned buses, concrete slabs, sewer EXILE:- world.Pugo's ally is Col-Gen.Boris Gromov, deputy minister of the Interior.Gromov, who led the last Soviet forces from Afghanistan.is one of the few heroes of the war and has been profiled heavily in the conservative press.Jacobsen said in an interview Tuesday that the coup had been in the works for a long time, as Pugo and others put together a network of people, many of them Afghan vets, placing them in key posts and bringing together a grassroots movement of conservatives and Russian nationalists."The network was prepared for the eventuality of martial law, or in the worst case, a civil war.” Pugo.former head of the Lat-vian Communist party and then chief of the Latvian KGB, has been in charge of the Interior Ministry, controlling the police, the feared Black Berets — involved in the crackdowns MOBS:- pipes and other debris until coup leaders agreed to restore constitutional rule under Gorbachev.They said they would give up their lives rather than submit to the coup leaders’ bid for power.Soviet troops disarmed Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis’s guards and arrested his security chief Tuesday night, a Latvian spokesman in Moscow said.REPORT DENIED An earlier report from a Latvian official in the Swedish capital Stockholm said Godmanis was arrested but a duty officer at the Latvian mission in Moscow.Martin Squinsh, denied the report.He said the mission confirmed early Wednesday the military left the Latvian government building in Riga.It was impossible to confirm either report because of a lack of communication with Riga.On Tuesday, Soviet troops seized control of Latvian broadcast studios and the central telephone exchange.Squinsh said Godmanis received an anonymous call orde- in the Baltic Republics — and the ministry’s other special troops, since January.While Latvian.Pugo was raised in Russia of Stalinist parents.LED FORCES Gromov, who is not a member of the eight-man ruling committee, was one of the authors of a call to arms published last month, a signal that a coup was in the works.Jacobsen said that a key move by the plotters was the replacement this winter of Vadim Bakatin.a Gorbachev liberal who was dumped as interior minister, making way for Pugo and Gromov.If Gromov had stayed in the military, Jacobsen said he would have been guaranteed a promotion and could have ended up as Chief of the General Staff."Why does such a man want to become a policeman?" Jacobsen asks.The answer came from someone who knows Gro- ring him to leave his office Tuesday night but he ignored it.Just before midnight.Gen.Fyodor Kuzmin.Soviet commander of the Baltic Military District, called Godmanis with a request he surrender "unnecessary weapons,” and a short time later men in two armored personnel carriers disarmed all of Godmanis’ guards and arrested their chief, who was not identified.The Latvian Information Office representative in Stockholm.Imants Gross, said Soviet forces occupied the government building about 11 p.m.local time.He said he based his information on telephoned reports from the Latvian and Lithuanian foreign ministries.Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators massed in the main square of Leningrad and protested in Kishniev, capital of Moldavia, and Minsk, capital of Byelorussia, as resistance to the coup swelled across the vast land.The leaders of at least four other republics said they would never submit to the new government.mov and asked him that question."To prevent the Afghanis-tan-ization of Soviet society," Gromov is reported to have said.Asked what that meant, Gromov said simply: "Civil war." Another key move, identified by Soviet expert Stephen Foye in Report on the U.S.S.R., was the appointment of another conservative.Col-Gen.Nikolai Shlyaga.as head of the military’s Main Political Administration.traditionally used by the party as one instrument of control over the army.Report on the U.S.S.R.is published by the Radio Liberty Research Institute of Munich."Before all else, we must defend Lenin.October, our culture, history and tradition." Shlyaga said in a speech last year.October is Communist shorthand for the Bolshevik revolution.which took place in that month in 1917.The coup leaders have been NO COMPROMISE There was no sign of compromise.leaving the coup leaders with the options of launching a bloodbath or abandoning their two-day-old adventure.Yeltsin issued increasingly strident calls throughout the day for the coup leaders to resign.rescind their decrees and restore Gorbachev to power.He accused them of being failed politicians of the past who already had “blood on their hands.” He warned in a fiery speech to about 150.000 coup opponents outside his besieged parliament that an attack was imminent."The junta that has come to power will stop at nothing to keep that power.” he warned as the crowd roared its approval and shouted his name.“They understand that things have reached the point that if they lose, they will lose not only their armchairs, but they will be seated on court benches.” Yeltsin didn’t, elaborate but he appeared to be suggesting coup leaders should be put on identified as hardline Communists, but Jacobsen cautions that they are not Communist ideologues and notes that there are no party theoreticians on the committee.They are conservatives who harken back to early days of order and stability, he said.One key military figure who has not been heard from since the coup is Marshall Sergei Ak- ST.JOHN’S, Nfld.(CP) — Ottawa has struck a deal with Soviet fishermen that would give Canada 1500 tonnes of their cod quota in an area off the Grand Banks.Fisheries Minister John Crosbie said Tuesday.In exchange.Soviet fishing vessels will be allowed to harvest 6000 tonnes of caplin this fall.The fishing zone off the Grand Banks is where inshore fishermen have been defying trial.In Leningrad, reformist mayor Anatoly Sobchak led a crowd estimated at 200.000 in a massive protest against the coup.The Associated Press reported late Tuesday evening that tens of thousands of people remained in the city's central Palace Square as evening deepened.The AP said 400,000 people staged a pro-democracy rally in Kishiniev.capital of the western republic of Moldavia.ESTONIA INDEPENDENT In the Baltics.Estonia's parliament issued a decree proclaiming immediate and full independence from the Soviet Union.Soviet troops seized key buildings in the Baltic republics and cut off communications with the outside world and with the rest of the country.The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, declared the coup illegal and said his government in the country's second largest republic would not recognize the new government.hromeyev.former chief of the general staff and Gorbachev s security adviser.Jacobsen says it is doubtful that Akhromeyev.who still commands respect in the army.would support the coup.If he is able to speak out.his influence could be instrumental in bringing more military units over to the side of the opposition.the federal government's ban on small boats.For weeks, longliner fishermen, with boats measuring less than 20 metres, have asked Crosbie for the right to fish in the zone.The fishermen say lingering pack ice off Newfoundland has disrupted the migratory patterns of cod.which they need for tuna bait, and kept fish from areas where they are licensed.Coal miners went on strike m Siberia and the far north in answer to Yeltsin's Monday call for a general strike.The nationalist opposition movement Rukh in Ukraine called on its supporters to strike today.International pressure on the new Soviet rulers grew as well.Canada, the U.S., the European Community and Japan froze aid to Moscow.Bush, who said he spoke with Yeltsin on Tuesday, again denounced the takeover and supported Yeltsin.In Ottawa.External Affairs Minister Barbara McDougall called in the Soviet charge d’affaires to express Canada's "horror" at the prospect of violence.But McDougall only said Canada sympathizes with Yeltsin."What is important is that the citizens of the Soviet Union decide which voices they want to hear.” she said.She said Canadians should cancël plans to travel to the Soviet Union and any Canadians already there should leave.Cod quota coup Continued from last page were thought imminent.The independent Interfax news agency reported this morning a column of Soviet troops had entered Estonia and were advancing on Tallinn, the capital.Other reports indicated more than 100 light armored vehicles and trucks were involved.TROOPS SEEN The independent Baltfax news agency quoted Lithuanian government officials as saying new movements of troops and heavy armor were seen throughout the republic as well as in the centre of Vilnius, the capital.Baltfax said later Soviet troops destroyed customs post established by the Lithuania on its border with Russia.In Riga, the press department of Latvia’s parliament said the Soviet military occu- pied the broadcast studio and the central telephone and telegram exchange just before 5 a m.local time.It had no details, but people in Riga said they heard loud noises outside.The Russian Information Agency, reporting from Riga, said the headquarters of the People's Front of Latvia had been seized by special forces.Baltfax also said Soviet troops had seized the central telephone and telegraph facilities in Kaunas, the republic’s second largest city.Estonian Foreign Minister Lennart Meri told a press conference in Helsinki, capital of neighboring Finland, all three Baltic states had given their approval to formation of governments in exile should the need arise.DENIES PLANS But Latvian Foreign Minister Janis Jurkans said later in CIRCULATION DEPT.819-569-9528 FAX: (819) 569-3945 KNOWLTON OFF.: 514,243-0088 FAX: 514-243-5155 Randy Kinnear, Publisher.569-9511 Charles Bury, Editor .569-6345 Lloyd G.Scheib, Advertising Manager.569-9525 Richard Lessard, Production Manager.569-9931 Mark Guillette, Press Superintendent .569-9931 ' Guy Renaud, Graphics.569-4856 Francine Thibault, Composition.569-9931 Subscriptions by Carrier: weekly: $1.80 Subscriptions by Mail: Canada: 1 year- $78.00 6 months- $39.00 3 months- $19 50 1 month- $16.00 U S.& Foreign: 1 year- $159.00 6 months- $97.00 3 months- $65.00 1 month- $34.00 These prices do not include GST.Established February 9, 1897, incorporating the Sherbrooke Gazette (est.1837) and the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1879).Published Monday to Friday by The Record Division, Groupe Québécor Inc.Offices and plant located at 2850 Delorme Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 1A1.Publications Mail Registration No.1064.Member of Canadian Press Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation Back copies of The Record are available at the following prices: Copies ordered within a month of publications: 60c per copy.Copies ordered more than a month after publication: $1.10 per copy.Copenhagen his government had no such plans.Meri said Estonia was working on a formal declaration of independence.Lithuania has declared outright independence from the U.S.S.R.while Estonia and Latvia had previously said only that they would work toward that goal.There were unconfirmed reports one man was killed in Riga by Soviet soldiers Monday night in a street confrontation.Two others were reportedly wounded when the Soviets took over key communications facilities.These would be the first casualties of the coup launched Monday by hardline communists and the military which deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev.The new government imposed a six-month state of emergency in the Baltics.They quoted witnesses as saying the two were shot by soldiers “in assault troopers’ uniforms and black berets.” The so-called black berets are Soviet Interior Ministry troops, who have been blamed for several violent attacks in the Baltics in recent months.Soviet naval vessels had blockaded the Tallinn port Monday.BACKS YELTSIN The government of Estonia issued a statement earlier Tuesday backing Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin’s call for a general strike to force the coup leaders to restore the constitutional government under Gorbachev.“We call on all democratic forces in the present and former Soviet republics, as well as the Baltic countries to defend democracy and freedom,” the government said in a statement which was surprisingly distributed by the official Soviet news agency Tass.The statement urged Estonians to refuse to obey any orders issued by the new national government but to stick to nonviolent means.The Lithuanian parliament passed a resolution calling on all ministries, departments, republican institutions and local governments to cease operations immediately if Soviet forces seize the parliament buildings.The only exceptions should be "health care institutions, the food industry, power stations and other vitally important installations.” Interf ax reported.RUSSIANS: Continued from last page building on the banks of the Moscow River, about 100 elite OMON Interior Ministry police loyal to Yeltsin stood guard.Two deputies were also seen with rifles preparing for a possible attack.Russian government officials reportedly distributed gas masks and guns to supporters.Russian government offi-cigls say up to 500 paratroopers from three Soviet army divisions had joined in the defence of the parliament.“I can’t go against the people," one of the soldiers, Igor Vagnev.20.said as he jumped down from his tank to answer questions from reporters.“1 just listened to the people.” the native of Kazakhstan said.Alexei Malashev, a supporter of the reformist Democratic Russia movement, brought bread to the soldiers donated by workers at one of Moscow’s many bakeries.“They saw my Democratic Russia pin and told me to distribute this bread to all the people that are now defending our Russian parliament building.” Malashev was optimistic."People who have known freedom in the past six and half years won’t let this happen.” he said.LITTLE NEWS Many members of the crowd saiu me biggest problem they face, along with most other Soviet citizens, is getting reliable information about what’s going on.The Russian government is using loudspeakers to broadcast information bulletins every hour on the hour.Russian Prime Minister I van Silayev and Moscow Mayor Gavriil Popov made speeches during the morning as did spokesmen for Yeltsin.Former Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze also spoke to the crowd.Resistance supporters are also reading illegal photocopied editions of Kuranty, the Moscow newspaper that was banned shortly after the takeover.containing reports on Yel- tsin’s demand for the reinstatement of Gorbachev.Groups gathered quickly around people designated to read the articles out loud.Posters hung on the walls of the Russian parliament building warned: The Red Terror Will Come if We Do Not Overcome These Putschists.The decree on Red Terror, enacted Sept.5.1!)18.by the then-new Bolshevik government.authorized the state po lice to shoot everyone involved in “plots and insurrections." It was aimed at suppressing the monarchist forces opposing the new Bolshevik government in the civil war that followed the 1917 Revolution.Weather Wednesday.cloudy with showers or thundershowers.High 22.Thursday: Sunny and warmer.Doonesbury YOU CANT Z, WITHOUT A swpMeAtm' jjb, mem think of -me PiemoF emu?! TmeTouxK Hi / AFTER HER.I GOTTA GO PICK UP MY UN EMPtOYMENTCHECK.YOU MIGHT WANT TO START PUTTING YOUR THINGS j TOGETHER.\ SORRY.ZONK, THINGS HAVE CHANGED.,, NUKE.æaji BY GARRY TRUDEAU 4 I 1 The Townships The RECORD—Wednesday.Aurus» 21.1991—3 «¦____ftcj tcccora Faulty gasket puts fuel oil in the river By Rita Legault WINDSOR — The smell of oil was thick in the air Tuesday as an army of green trucks descended on Windsor.But it wasn't a military manoeuvre.The green tankers from the environmental cleanup company Servac came to battle an oil spill which was spreading down the St.Francis River.The spill occured overnight when a gasket blew on an oil line at Domtar’s old St-François paper mill, said Émile Audy, head of technical and environmental services for the mill.It was discovered at about 7:30 a.m.Audy said the company immediately reported the spill to Enviroment Quebec’s emergency telephone number but the call was answered by a machine.He said Environment Quebec officials appeared on the scene at about 10:30 a.m.IMMEDIATE ACTION By that time, Domtar had shut the valve on the oil line and set up a first absorbant boom downriver from the plant, and workers were setting up a second boom below the town bridge A third boom w as later set up further downriver and two more were planned late Tuesday afternoon for the Richmond stretch of the river.Audy said the extra booms w’ill provide an added security blanket against the oil going further downstream.The backup booms were decided on after Domtar and Environment Quebec officials flew over the river in a helicopter to assess damage.OOIWTAB PH semaine que Chez D0MtAR ça part> “We've put on a belt and suspenders to make sure we re not caught with out pants down." Audy said.A few miles below' Richmond the St.Francis supplies drinking water to the town of Drum-mondville.Audy said about 3000 gallons — roughly 12.000 litres — of the oil spread its way down the St.Françis River towards Richmond.Environment Quebec estimated the spill at between 5000 and 10.000 gallons.The heating oil is used to power a huge furnace which produces steam to dry paper.By Tuesday afternoon environmental cleanup crews from Servac and Sanivan were on hand setting up booms and vacuuming up pools of oil stopped by the booms.Audy said the viscous black liquid remains on the surface of the water, making it fairly easy to clean up.He said it was the first time such an accident had occured at the Windsor plant.He added he w as pleased with the company’s quick response to the emergency.He added that the accident occured at Domtar's "old" mill, which is not as foolproof as its new' paper mill on a hill outside town.Audy said he expects the cleanup to be completed within five days.Audy said little environmental damage would be caused by the spill."We re not talking about the Exxon Valdiz," he said."Maybe some animals and birds will suffer, but it will be marginal." Clean-up crews brought their own water to the scene of Tuesday’s oils spill.M JPi Environmental damage from the Windsor spill should be minor, says Domtar spokesman Emile Audy.‘We’re not talking about the Exxon Valdiz.’ ki coro photos grant simkon Several oils booms were spread across the St.Francis as far downstream as Richmond.Police: Downtown beating Bromont body had nine holes victims wanted no charges SHERBROOKE — A man found murdered in Bromont has been identified but police won t release his name until his family has been notified.SHERBROOKE — Police say they didn’t follow up the beating of two youths on Wellington Street early Sunday because the victims didn’t want to press charges.Alex Ross, 17.and Scott Muth, 18, say there were attacked by nearly a dozen youths while they waited for three friends to finish a late-night meal.Ross ended up in Sherbrooke hospital with a fractured skull, while Muth suffered only minor injuries.Cst.Serge Fournier of Sher- brooke police said Tuesday officers at the scene asked the youths if they wanted to file a complaint, but they refused.“To lay charges we need a complainant and we need witnesses," Fournier said Tuesday.He said the three girls who were with Ross and Muth said they would be able to identify the attackers, hut didn’t point them out in the crowd that had gathered.Ross’s father Kelvin said the three girls pointed out four of the attackers to police, but they said they couldn't do anything.The officers called an ambulance for Ross and left it at that.Kelvin Ross said he found the police version "a little odd", because he spoke to all three girls and Muth and their stories matched.But he added he doesn’t want to pursue the matter.“I don't want to push it.” he said."It's too late anyway, they'd never find the guys.” Ross, of St-Denis de Bromp-ton.is still in Sherbrooke Hospital but can now move around the ward, his father said.Chamber backs Wellington walk SHERBROOKE