Star Helps STAR Fly

While the Hamptons International Film Festival parties and screenings bustled at the other end of Main Street, one of the biggest stars in town faced a phalanx of cameras and reporters in the J. Harper Poor Cottage to spotlight a very un-Hollywood issue: radioactive and toxic-chemical seepage from Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Alec Baldwin, the actor and outspoken activist for the Democratic Party, was there to kick off fund-raising for STAR (Standing for Truth About Radiation), a fledgling group dedicated to fighting for information about B.N.L.'s activities and their possible consequences.

STAR is financing tests by independent scientific investigators to measure levels of toxins in nearby waters and seafood and of radioactivity in baby teeth collected from children living near the lab.

Reaching Out

Mr. Baldwin's appearance Friday night and a press conference in Mineola that afternoon were intended to focus national attention on a cause that has, so far, not reached much beyond the boundaries of Suffolk County. Organizers said the events were successful, and not only in terms of publicity. The dinner reportedly raised more than $50,000. About 80 guests attended, paying $500 to $1,000 each.

Mr. Baldwin was joined at the dinner by STAR's founders, including Dr. Helen Caldicott, a pioneer of the international organization opposed to nuclear activity called Physicians for Social Responsibility. Dr. Caldicott, an Australian native, joined the effort to permanently close the nuclear power plants at Brookhaven after buying a house in East Hampton.

Other Activists

Also among the founders are Jay Schlichtmann and David Friedson. Mr. Schlichtmann is the Massachusetts lawyer who - as a result of the national best-seller, "A Civil Action," about a community's legal battle against a toxic-chemical polluter - has become a national figure in his own right. A film based on the book is in the works, with Mr. Schlichtmann to be played by John Travolta.

Mr. Friedson is president of STAR's board of directors and head of Windmere Durable Holdings, which trades consumer products in the international market. Frazer and Frances Ann Dougherty, founders of East Hampton's LTV, a nonprofit television facility, were hosts for the evening.

Mr. Baldwin's mother, who lives in Nassau County, is a breast cancer survivor and activist, and he has made appearances in support of her effort. On Friday, referring to charges that the lab was the cause of clusters of cancers, including rare cancers in children, the actor and part-time Amagansett resident said he too was concerned.

No Word

The contaminated groundwater, which has been shown to have seeped beyond the boundaries of the 5,300-acre lab, may be "heading our way but no one at the lab is admitting they have a problem, and we haven't heard a peep from Pataki," Mr. Baldwin said. There is $30 million set aside in the lab's budget for next year to further the cleanup.

Senator Alfonse D'Amato and Representative Michael P. Forbes have recently joined the call for a permanent shutdown of the high flux beam reactor and a total cleanup of the contamination, Mr. Forbes saying permanent closure of the reactors would be the best way to make sure the rest of the lab stayed open. It employs more than 3,000 people.

It was announced last week that the legislators sponsored a bill that would deny operating funds to the high flux beam reactor for another year. The lab has a smaller reactor used for research that remains in service.

Friday Talks

The Department of Energy has also booted Associated Universities, the consortium that managed the lab for many years, and has been looking for a new management entity.

Lab scientists and managers have argued that there is no evidence to link their operations with cancer, and have disputed claims that there are unusual cancer clusters in the area.

Following cocktails and dinner, guests gathered in the Poor Cottage's elegantly papered living room for speeches by Ms. Caldicott and Mr. Schlichtmann, among others.

Elsewhere Too

STAR's founders have said their primary focus is Brookhaven but that they intend to apply what is learned here to questions being raised across the country about the long-term effects of low-level radiation around other nuclear facilities.

Carrie Clark, operations manager for STAR, said that, in addition to sponsoring scientific research, the funds will be used to become an effective lobby.

"The event was a huge success and began the fund-raising effort necessary to finance a truly effective organization whose aim is to insure that the voices of the public are heard by the Department of Energy, and that decisions are no longer made in the dark," Ms. Clark said.

As part of its public education campaign, STAR will stage a panel discussion at Guild Hall in East Hampton on "B.N.L.: Problems and Possibilities," on Dec. 5.

(Karl Grossman's "Closeup" this week is also about Brookhaven and STAR.)