November 29, 2004

State regulators will require Honeywell International to conduct $448 million cleanup of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, one of nation's most polluted bodies of water; plan requires Honeywell International to conduct extensive dredging of lake bottom over next seven years to remove much of 165,000 pounds of mercury and other toxins that state says have been dumped in lake over past decades; Honeywell is responsible for cleanup because in 1999 it merged with Allied Chemical, which owned plant that state says dumped toxins in years before plant closed in 1988; state sued Allied Chemical in 1989 for polluting lake; Honeywell has suggested more limited cleanup that would cost about $237 million; Onondaga Indian nation has expressed its concerns that state's plan is insufficient; map; photo (M)

Top executives of leading financial firms are working to decide how big year-end bonus pool will be, how to divide it among divisions and what each employee will get; complain privately about time they must spend on matter; bonuses typically make up majority of compensation for professional employees; are expected to show this year that gap between those who produce most revenue and everyone else is widening (M)

NFL week 12 is summarized (S)

Jeff Thompson, chief operating officer of TowerStream, says company will challenge phone companies for high-speed Internet business customers in New York metropolitan area by delivering fast, cheap wireless service; many experts say this kind of aerial system could uncork bottleneck phone companies pose through their control of wire from switching stations to homes and offices; TowerStream, with 700 customers in five cities, is most active player in emerging industry that sells technology known as WiMax, or worldwide interoperability for microwave access; WiMax delivers broadband Internet links through fixed antennas that send and get signals across entire cities; photos (M)

Marines in river boats searching for Iraqi insurgents conjure memories of another American war, in Vietnam; troops in high-tech updates on Swift boats used in Vietnam move up wide rivers, with machine-gunners nervously scanning riverbanks for hidden enemy; river raid on village of Chard Duwaish is part of weeklong offensive billed as sequel to battle for Falluja, just 20 miles away; American commanders are eager to exploit potential patrol boats give them for mounting fast, unexpected attacks along Tigris and Euphrates; raids are also chance to exploit another new dimension for winning war: twinning American combat units with newly trained Iraqi troops; although recruits in new Iraqi units undergo strict vetting, American officers say rebel sympathizers have infiltrated some units, and some of soldiers have been caught tipping off rebel groups; photos; map (M)