Cleanup Begins in Cave Marred by Film Artists

Using an anti-graffiti cleanser, workers have begun scrubbing the walls of a Mojave Desert limestone cave inadvertently defaced by artists creating an on-location set for filmmaker Oliver Stone.

State park officials said the cleansing process--which uses water, a nontoxic citrus-based detergent and a soft-bristle brush--should safely strip Mitchell Caverns of the 100 fake Indian pictographs applied by artists creating a backdrop for “The Doors,” a film about rock legend Jim Morrison.

“In some spots there may be a ghostly residue,” said Bill Tippetts, a resource ecologist for the state Parks and Recreation Department. “But they plan to cover that with cave dust, and, hopefully, the wall will look about the way it did before.”

In March, state officials granted Stone permission to film in the caverns but required that artists decorating a wall with Indian symbols use a natural substance easily vacuumed off. A demonstration outside the cave persuaded state rangers the process was safe, but when the multicolored powders were applied inside, they seeped into the porous limestone.

State park officials concluded that artists erred in using water to apply the powders, but the film company contends that moisture remaining in the cave because of a recent thunderstorm caused the natural paints to misbehave.

The episode sparked an uproar among environmentalists and speleological groups, which treasure Mitchell Caverns because of the dramatic mineral formations. Located west of Needles in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, the caverns draw 10,000 visitors annually.

Some critics, including the San Francisco Bay branch of the National Speleological Society, wrote letters urging the state to review its policy of allowing Hollywood into such fragile locations. But Jack Harrison, the state’s chief deputy director for park operations, said the only review will occur at the regional level.

“There’s nothing wrong with the policy,” he said. “We have hundreds of films shot in our parks each year without incident.”

After considering dozens of proposals from art restoration experts and entrepreneurs touting miracle cleansing agents, the film production company hired an El Segundo firm, Certified Laboratories, for the sensitive cave job.

“We got a ton of calls,” said Barbara Ling, the film’s production designer, with people proposing “everything from lasers to sandblasting. We, of course, went with the delicate approach.”

Tippetts said the biodegradable product used by Certified Laboratories was chosen because it cleans without leaving acrid odors and without scarring the rock. A second technique that used a high-powered air jet was also effective but more time-consuming, he said.

The cleanup began Sunday and is expected to conclude today. The film company is paying for the work and for an archeologist who is supervising the project, costs that Ling estimated at about $5,000.