Business Notes AUCTIONS

Everything about the Exxon Valdez oil spill was expensive, but last week it produced a few bargains. At an auction in Anchorage to sell off surplus equipment that Exxon used in cleanup operations, buyers bid on acres of items ranging from animal shampoo to mobile homes to microwave ovens. Four 18-ft. boats sold for $3,750. Other items were less than a steal: four used TV sets sold for a total of $2,000. Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers International, a Vancouver, B.C., firm that bought the surplus gear from Exxon, collected $3.8 million on the first day of the four-day auction. The oil company, which will send experts back to Prince William Sound next spring to continue the job, says it has plenty of equipment left to complete the cleanup.