NEWS RELEASE PRESS RELEASE 
PACE INT'L. UNION, AFL-CIO/CLC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 21, 1999
For more information, contact:
Joe Drexler, Special  Projects Director, (410) 837-7906.
Sanford Lewis, Strategic Council on Corporate
  Accountability, (617) 489-3686. 
Lynne Baker, Associate Director of Communications,
  (615) 834-8590

     LAKEWOOD, COLO. -- The Paper, Allied-Industrial,
Chemical and Energy Workers (PACE) International Union
issued today a major report which charges that
Baltimore-headquartered Crown Central Petroleum is in
violation of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
disclosure rules. The report states that Crown, in
documents filed with the SEC, made misleading statements
and omitted important facts regarding the impact of
operational, environmental and labor difficulties on the
company.

     The report documents over $70 million dollars in
undisclosed costs and risks. 

     "We believe these omissions are serious violations
of SEC disclosure rules and thereby compromise the
ability of shareholders to make informed investment
decisions," said Joe Drexler, PACE special projects
director.

     The report was prepared for PACE by Sanford Lewis,
an attorney and leading national expert on corporate
accountability and environmental issues. 

     According to the report, Crown failed to disclose
vital information to shareholders in its 10K report to
the SEC on the following items: 
o  The growing boycott against Crown gasoline, which has
hurt the company's gasoline sales and caused Crown to
dramatically increase its selling expenses; 
o  A $1.1 million penalty for air pollution at its
Pasadena, Texas, refinery -- the largest in Texas history
-- and ongoing proceedings seeking as much as $14 million
in additional environmental enforcement penalties; and 
o  The potential loss of $23 million in federal contracts
due to discrimination and civil rights problems.

     Other information cited as missing or in need of
further information include: $18 million in capital
improvements and additional operating costs which may be
necessary to upgrade the Pasadena refinery, and a
detailed explanation of the costs associated with the
purchase of crude oil in the futures markets at a time
when crude oil prices were plummeting. 

     The report also states that Crown failed to provide
a detailed explanation of the dramatic increase in
litigation costs associated with Crown's labor, civil
rights and environmental problems.

     The just-released annual issue of Fortune magazine,
providing analysis and comparisons among America's
largest corporations, ranked Crown as the worst performer
among independent refining and marketing companies.
Petroleum Finance Week, a widely read industry
publication, recently rated Crown last among 12
independent refineries for earnings per share, refinery
margins and decline in refinery margins. Crown stock has
dropped by as much as 85 percent over the past decade.

     "We have been providing information to shareholders,
whom we expect to file a formal complaint soon with the
SEC," said Drexler.

     Members of PACE International Union Local 4-227 were
forcibly removed from their jobs by Crown in February
1996 after Crown failed to force them on strike. PACE and
other organizations have been conducting a boycott of
Crown gasoline stations and convenience stores in
Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia and Alabama for the past 18 months. 

     The campaign against Crown has been endorsed by the
AFL-CIO, National Baptist Convention USA, National Black
Caucus of State Legislators, Baltimore City Council,
NAACP, Baltimore Interdenominational Ministerial
Alliance, Greater Birmingham Ministries, Coalition of
Black Trade Unionists, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense
Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council.