- BA /The Houston Post/Sat., Aug. 25, 1979 Whit By FRED BONA VITA Post Austin Bureau CORPUS CHRISTI — Texas Attorney General Mark White blamed Gov. Bill Clements Friday for Mexico's refusal to negotiate with the United States about damages from the oil spill now hitting the state's beaches. Clements' public statements that Texas should not sue for damages crip- pled the chances for negotiations, he said. White also said he has called for a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Cyrus Vance to tell him Texas' legal position on payment. "I am going to see that the people of Texas are not left holding the bag for the damages that are occurring," White said. The attorney general was one of sever- al witnesses testifying here Friday as the Texas House Environmental Affairs Committee opened two days of public hearings on the effects of the blowout of I mas Clements' the Ixtoc I oil well in the Bay of Cam- peche June 3. Oil and tar from that blowout are washing ashore In South Texas in vast quantities, threatening the marine habi- tat and hurting the tourist related econo- my of the area. Reacting to news reports from Wash- ington that Mexican officials turned down a request to help pay for the clean- up of the spilled crude oil, White blamed Clements' public remarks in recent weeks for the refusal. The governor has down-played the im- pact on Texas' beaches and has said he did not think the state should sue Mexico or Pernex, the government oil monopoly, over the spill. "I was disturbed and alarmed when I learned that the governor had made statements to Mexican officials that the state of Texas was not going to sue Mexi- co," White told the committee. "That is misleading and not within his prerogatives." In an impromptu news conference on White Clements the steps of City Hall here after he finish- ed his official testimony, the attorney general elaborated. "I am very disturbed by this," he said of the reports Mexico had issued a seven- paragraph statement saying it would not negotiate over the spill and could find no basis in international law for such talks. fur Mexico's al "I think the false signals that are being sent out by the governor to the people of Mexico and government offi- cials in Mexico have proven that we are not in a negotiating position," the attor- ney general continued. Asked whether Clements had hurt chances for a negotiated settlement by his remarks, White replied: "I think he certainly has. "I think that when you tell anyone that you are not going to file a suit, send- ing out such a false signal has been ex- tremely damaging to our ability to initi- ate negotiations." As he has in recent weeks, White continued to say he will file a suit if all other efforts to obtain compensation for damages fail. And he reiterated his intention of suing anyone or any firm whose liability or negligence could be shown. He has included SEDCO Inc., the Dallas-based oil well drilling company founded by Clements which leased to the Mexican firm the rig used drill Ixtoc I. "Those types of spills just don't hap- Pbst Austin Bateau pen without negligence," the attorney general declared. White said his talks with Vance and other top-level State Department offi- cials will include assurances that Texas' legal position is not intended to cripple the negotiations under way at the federal level for purchase of natural gas from Mexico. "We need to have an understanding that we are going to be very careful that nothing done at this end will jeopardize the very delicate negotiations over the purchase of oil and gas in Mexico," he said. But, he continued, "We in Texas are not going to be left holding the bag. We are not going to sit idly by and be taken advantage of." He recalled efforts to clean and pro- tect the coasts of California and Alaska after oil spills there and said, "Our Texas coasts are just as important." White also said he plans to meet with U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Chiletti to discuss the legal precedents involved refusal in action against Mexico or any Mexican firm. White said the Santa Barbara oil spill off the California coast set a stand- ard for liability, but the Gulf of Cam- peche case might pose a different prob- lem since the spill was in the domestic waters of another nation. Meanwhile, Environmental Affairs Chairman Bennie Bock II of New Braun- fels said the panel would be "very dilli- gent" in trying to help the attorney general and others determine culpability for the spill. Bock said Texas should view the spill as a "warning that should be heeded." Bock's committee resumes its hear- ings Saturday in Brownsville. Capt. 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