Station Ties Orange Grove to Globe : Communications: A satellite facility in Santa Paula relayed messages between ships involved in the Exxon oil spill cleanup.

After the massive oil spill from the tanker Exxon Valdez in Alaska last March, a major role in the cleanup effort was played by a small satellite communications station in the hills of Santa Paula.

The same satellite center--a vital communications link for almost all shipping in the Pacific--funneled emergency messages across the world after the San Francisco-area earthquake in October.

The Communications Satellite Corp. (COMSAT) station, which opened in 1976, is an unassuming facility dwarfed by an array of 42-foot-diameter white antennas in the middle of a Santa Paula orange grove.

“The county wanted us to maintain the agricultural aesthetics,” said Dan Geer, station manager. “When we picked the site, we were looking for a place close to Los Angeles and also permission to use the radio frequencies we want.

“There just happened to be an orange grove there,” he added.

The 21-member crew of operators and technicians works 24 hours a day, seven days a week to maintain COMSAT satellites and take care of communications among ships in the Pacific Rim.

Keeping the satellites functioning may be routine, but dealing with passenger liners, oil tankers and fishing boats provides the element of unpredictability and variety at the station.

Acting Operator Supervisor Debbie Schneider recalled that the station was “very hectic” last March when the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled tons of oil in Alaska.

COMSAT helped by setting up a special 24-hour communications link among the ships involved in the cleanup. A framed certificate of commendation from Exxon hangs in the COMSAT station now, along with pictures and posters of cruise ships, oil drilling rigs and fishing boats.

A natural disaster such as an earthquake will also increase the station’s activity, Schneider said. After ships received news that the big quake had struck the Bay Area, operators had to deal with frantic customers trying to call home.

“We couldn’t get through for a day and a half,” she said. “There is no satellite station in San Francisco. If there was, there wouldn’t have been a problem.”

Emergency calls are routed to the Coast Guard by one of COMSAT’s eight operators who give personal assistance if customers need help dialing ship-to-shore, shore-to-ship or ship-to-ship. They also assist with telex and facsimile calls, Schneider said.

Usually, however, workdays at the COMSAT station are routine, Geer said.

About 50% of the work schedule involves maintaining the satellites, about 40% is devoted to telephone, telex and data services for ships and the remaining 10% is spent transmitting Armed Forces radio news broadcasts to Pacific ships and sending British and domestic television programs to Australia, Geer said.

Regular satellite maintenance and television transmission is routinely done by computers--huge, gray machines that constantly hum and that occupy most of the station space. A satellite alarm and a minimum of two technicians on duty ensure that the satellite stays in orbit and functions correctly. “We’ve got a backup for almost everything you can think of,” Geer said.

According to COMSAT, nearly half of all worldwide telecommunications traffic begins and ends in the United States. COMSAT has a sister station in Southbury, Conn., that services the Atlantic Ocean. More than 10,000 ships use satellite service, and nearly half use COMSAT on a regular basis.

That translates into more than 2,000 calls a day during a peak period, Schneider said. The busiest time of year is from April to October, when “Alaska opens up,” she said. COMSAT receives a lot of business from the cruise ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers in that area.

The advantage of using satellites for phone calls is privacy, high quality transmissions and fast connections, Schneider said.

But satellite service is not cheap. A phone call costs $10 per minute, with a three-minute minimum, and a telex is $4 per minute.

Despite the high rates, business is growing, Geer said. A large expansion is planned for next year. The COMSAT station owns 10 acres but is now only using four.

The Communications Satellite Corp. is a Washington company that owns and operates seven domestic satellites plus a satellite-based television distribution network.

Customers include the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, Voice of America and the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany, Turkey, Japan, Korea and Italy.

The company was formed in 1963 by an act of Congress to pioneer the development of a commercial international communications satellite system, and launched its first satellite in 1976. President John F. Kennedy picked its first board of directors, but COMSAT received no government funds and has always been listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said COMSAT spokeswoman Pat Whalen.

The company employs more than 1,500 people worldwide and revenues are about $400 million.