Time - Man of the Year/Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso/moy/071392/07139922.000

Text File | 1993-04-08 | 4KB | 83 lines

                                                                                U.S. CAMPAIGN, Page 26

Blame It on the Bermuda Triangle


    Millionaires like Ross Perot are used to getting their way.
A case in point: In 1985 the Texas businessman bought two
vacation homes in Bermuda, one for himself, one for his son. He
hired a local firm to add swimming pools, verandas and air
conditioning to both houses. Perot also set about finding a way
to dock his 68-ft. cabin cruiser, the Chateau Margaux, at his
doorstep.

    Unfortunately, Perot's preferred anchorage in Castle
Harbour is filled with species of marine life that are protected
by environmental laws. On June 4, 1986, Bermuda's Ministry of
the Environment ruled against Perot's plan to build a dock and
boathouse in front of one of his houses, because "substantial
dredging" would be needed to bring his boat close to shore.
Faced with that denial, Perot's contractors realized that any
similar request for permission to cut a channel in a nearby
coral reef would probably be nixed as well. A week later,
without filing for a permit, Perot's construction team blew up
a section of the reef near his house.

    On Aug. 6, 1986, Bermuda's leading newspaper, the Royal
Gazette, quoted government officials who said they were
investigating whether damage to the reef was caused by work done
for Perot. Perot said he had in fact ordered some work on his
house but knew nothing about the damage to the reef. "If all
this is going to become news, I'm gone," he told the Royal
Gazette. "I am going to sell my houses and leave." The threat
seemed to chasten Bermuda officials, who quickly reported that
there was no evidence Perot or anyone in his family had known
about or authorized the "jackhammering" of the reef or other
violations by Perot's contractors. But a government spokesman
said the reef had been damaged and promised to investigate
further.

    As it turns out, records kept by Bermuda police, who
strictly control access to explosives, show that 100 sticks of
underwater dynamite and 50 detonators were issued on June 10,
1986, to Doug Mackie, a marine-construction expert hired by
Perot's main contractor, Bermuda Engineering Associates. Mackie
got more explosives the following day. A cheerful man who is one
of Bermuda's handful of licensed blasters, Mackie says his job
for Perot involved drilling a row of holes in the seabed,
filling each with several sticks of dynamite, and detonating
them electrically with a battery kept on his barge. On several
occasions, he says, Perot put on snorkel gear and "dove the site
with us and watched the drilling going on." Perot then watched
from the shore as the charges were set off. None of this came
to the attention of the Bermuda government.

    Like much of the coral in Castle Harbour, the dynamited
reef head was in poor shape, and it may already have been dead
when Perot's men blew it up. Eventually the government decided
the damage was not great and did not take anyone to court. On
the understanding that Perot would not do any more unauthorized
blasting, it then issued a retroactive permit for the dredging.

    The question of who actually authorized the blasting was
never answered. Mackie says it was the project supervisor at
Bermuda Engineering. A former employee of the firm denies this.
But he suggests the firm told Perot that any new application
for a blasting permit would probably be denied. Last week Perot
said he assumed that Bermuda Engineering obtained whatever
permits were needed. He flatly denied that he watched Mackie
drill or dynamite the seabed. He added that all Mackie did was
use a jackhammer to knock off a 3-ft. piece of dead coral
protruding from a dock. Perot then telephoned Mackie and quizzed
him angrily about what he had told TIME. Mackie now says his
memory of the incident is no longer clear.

By Jay Peterzell/Washington