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TOP STORIESMay 8, 1998WIPP readies for waste shipmentsBy GREG HARMAN Staff Writer CARLSBAD, May 8, 1998 - As a final resting place for decades worth of cold war nuclear by-product, officials at the Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, better known as WIPP, say you can not do any better than a 250 million year old, roughly 70 mile block of solid salt deep in the earth of southern New Mexico. Members of the press were invited down yesterday, 2,150 feet down, into WIPP's salt-entombed chambers, to review the project's potential storage operations for which employees have been training for six months. WIPP and DOE officials expect final approval for the site to come next week from the Environmental Protection Agency, resulting in pre-approved transuranic, defense-generated waste arriving at the site, located 26 miles southeast of Carlsbad, N.M. and 75 miles north of Pecos, from temporary above-ground storage sites at Los Alamos, N.M., Idaho National Engineering Lab in southeast Idaho, and Rocky Flats, Colo., as soon as one month from the date of the EPA's go ahead. That is, if there are no more law suits seeking to side-track the $1.8 billion program. George Dials, manager of DOE's WIPP site, said that potential plutonium hazards have been overstated by opposition groups, who are concerned about the potential danger posed by oil and gas exploration, and the subsequent brine injection, close to the site. Dials said that fluid and air injection in southern New Mexico petroleum operations was not a credible scenario. "We have a one mile buffer zone and are working with the Bureau of Land Management to ensure that no unknown drilling occurs," said Dials. "I am confident that in the long run we will prevail over any litigation or possible restraining order." Two prior lawsuits that accused the DOE of operating behind closed doors, and involved New Mexico's Attorney General and Southwest Research, were "thrown out on a technical issue," said Westinghouse spokesperson Donavon Mager. Dials said further that he expected out-going Energy Secretary Federico Pena to do the "right and honorable thing" by approving the WIPP site for operations. Dials also announced his resignation as manager of WIPP, effective the first of June, explaining that this also was "an indication of my supreme confidence that it will open." The EPA granted preliminary certification to the site, in October 1996, as meeting all federal disposal regulations. Workers enter the seven mile labyrinth by a 45-ton capacity deck elevator equipped with emergency breathing apparatus, hard hats and miners' lamps, and operate in industrial-sized hallways that are hewn -floor, walls and ceiling -from solid rock salt faintly tinged by iron and clay. WIPP engineers see the lead-lined barrels, which may soon be filling these crystalline chambers, as only very temporary shells for the waste. The final shell will be the underground salt formation itself. The Permian-age salt which is continually encroaching on the hollowed-out chambers at a rate of three inches per year, would eventually seal up the waste in a solid block of salt. John Ingram, assistant engineer for WIPP, illustrated this hope, while chipping away at a one shimmering wall with a rock hammer. He displayed chunks of salt that had overtaken and absorbed small bubbles of water. It is the hope of WIPP engineers like Ingram that the salt formation will encase and hold the transuranic waste for the duration of its 10,000 year half-life, as simply as it has these tiny water beads. Expounding on the movement of the salt itself, Ingram compared the salt's growth to that of the human body's healing process. "What it's trying to do is heal itself," he said of the salt formation. "Just like a human being when it is cut." Ingram estimated it would take 100-200 years for the salt to completely encase the waste inside each individual chamber. To combat this incessantly-creeping formation, 8-15 foot "rock bolts" are installed in the ceiling to slow the growth and walls are "scaled" back with large industrial drills. However, at the heart of most concerns regarding the complex is the waste itself and the transport of it on major interstates. Transuranic waste literally means waste that is heavier than uranium. These elements include plutonium, neptunium, americium, curium and californium. Dangerous, WIPP officials stress, only if consumed or inhaled. Transuranic waste, according to the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act, contains more than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting transuranic isotopes per gram of waste, with half-lives of greater than 20 years. Transuranic waste from several temporary storage sites has already been approved for transport and disposal. Mixed waste, which would make-up a lesser portion of housed waste at WIPP, may contain both radioactive and hazardous waste. Mixed waste, upon approval, would be transported from several national sites The initial transportation of nuclear waste will not affect Pecos, but as other waste facilities are approved this waste will begin to be trucked through the middle of town on U.S. 285 to Carlsbad. Waste from Argone National Lab-East, Ill., Mound Laboratory, Ohio, Oak Ridge, Tenn. and Savannah River Site, S.C. will all be transported on this route. Once docked at the WIPP site the barrels are unloaded, a stringent process that may take up to two hours, the barrels themselves are taken down to the mine. There they packed with canvas sacks of magnesium oxide. The purpose of this is two-fold. Magnesium oxide serves as an anti-corrosive, absorbing any liquids that may enter the chamber or leak from the barrels. The compound also would absorb, according to WIPP engineers, any migrating radionuclides that escape their container. Wade Weyerman, a waste handler who has been working at the WIPP site for 11 years and was ready to start doing what he has trained for so long to do, said he has virtually no concern over working with transuranic waste. "Basically, you could have this stuff in your living room for the rest of your life and it wouldn't hurt you." Weyerman said that the transuranic waste emits about 200 millirem per year. A "rem" (roentgen equivalent man) is a measure of the actual biological effect of radiation absorbed by human tissue. When it comes to employees and radioactive exposure, WIPP operates by ALARA, or, As Low As Reasonably Achievable. The acceptable exposure level since 1958 until now is five rem per year. The acceptable level has been down-graded as knowledge of the hazards of radioactive particles became more well known. In 1910, the minimum exposure level was 100 rem per year, that was lowered to 30 rem per year in 1934, to 15 rem per year in 1948 and then to its present five rem per year level, in 1958. The DOE, however, operates on a two rem per year acceptable exposure level, and WIPP reduced this level further to one rem per year. This, officials explain, may be achieved by stringent safety measures and limiting the time employees spend handling the waste barrels. As officials and employees all anxiously await final approval for the site from the EPA, opposition groups have promised to continue their opposition. "Basically," Dials said, "they (Southwest Research) have said they are going to sue no matter what the EPA decides." Police, DA given $15,000 from sale of houseBy PEGGY McCRACKEN Staff Writer PECOS, May 8, 1998 - District Judge Bob Parks on Thursday awarded $15,000 in proceeds from the sale of the William and Alta Bechtel home to the Pecos Police Department and 143rd District Attorney. William Bechtel, his wife, Alta Ruth Bechtel, and their son, Skyler Bechtel, pleaded guilty last month to possession of marijuana. Officers found marijuana in the home during a drug raid last December. Judge Parks ruled that their home was contraband and ordered it sold, with 2/3 of the first $15,000 going to the PPD and 1/3 to the district attorney. The family may retain the remainder after costs are paid. In other action Thursday, Judge Parks accepted a plea of guilty to heroin possession by Santigao "Jimmy" Natividad Fuentez on Jan. 5. DA Randy Reynolds dismissed two similar indictments against Fuentez in a plea bargain agreement. Fuentez was sentenced to four years in prison and a $1,500 fine, plus $164.50 court costs. Trying to sell marijuana gets many indictedBy PEGGY McCRACKEN Staff Writer PECOS, May 8, 1998 - Pecos and Barstow residents charged with possessing marijuana for distribution were among 34 persons indicted by the federal grand jury Thursday. Two indictments were sealed. Gilberto Gonzales Juarez, 29, of Barstow, and Alma Rosa Perez, 32, of 707 S. Palm Street, were arrested May 4 with 509.80 pounds of marijuana in their vehicle, court records show. Others charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute are: * Ricardo Muniz-Salgado, 47, of Gainesville, 24.56 pounds on April 22; * Aracely Galindo-Pando, 27, of Austin, 192 pounds on May 5; * Samuel Mancinas-Porras, 19, of Odessa, 34.45 pounds on April 29; * Mary Duran Chavez, 39, of Artesia, N.M., 72.52 pounds on April 16; * Arturo Becerra-Gutierrez, 35, of Odessa, 148.06 pounds on Sept. 29, 1997; * Raul Luna Gardea, 26, of Odessa, 431 pounds on April 17; * Josie Ann Gardea, 26, of Odessa, unstated amount, May 19, 1997; * Marcos Dionisio Rivera, 18, of Odessa, 356.05 pounds on April 9; * Jose Luis Herrera-Hernandez, 36, of Ojinaga, Mex., 40.2 pounds on April 16; and * Manuel Terrazas-Lujan, 38, Armando Venegas-Mendoza, 31, Nicandro Perez-Contreras, 22, Antonio Mata-Moreno, 37, Miguel Angel Esparza-Ramos, 33, and Jose Luis Carbajal-Garcia, 26, all of Ojinaga, Mex., 164.10 pounds on April 10; Charged with importing and possessing marijuana with intent to distribute are: * Letty Jo Esparza, 32, and Rutilio Valdespino, 28, both of Odessa, 106 pounds on April 23; * Carlos Solis-Calmenero, 83, and Lucila Dominguez, 61, both of Cuauhtemoc, Chi., Mex., 148 pounds on April 10; * Teofilo Meraz Carrasco, 70, of Kermit, 27 pounds on April 9; * Severiano Lujan-Gamboa, 28, of Chihuahua, Mex., 59.8 pounds on April 30; Illegal entry after deportation is the charge against: * Adrian Gallegos-Garcia, 23, of Juarez, Mex., April 20; * Juan Reza-Pedroza, 34, of Mexico City, April 27; * Isidoro Ramirez-Velasquez, 26, of Saltillo, Mex., April 20; * Emilio Nicolas Romero, 35, of Oxaca, Mex., April 7; and * Juan Manuel Garcia-Vera, 24, of Guadalajara, Mex., Apirl 26. Charged with illegal entry after deportation, subsequent to aggravated felony are: * Francisco Rodriguez-Ramirez, 30, of Ojinaga, Mex., April 10; and * Jesus Jose Briones, 37, of Ojinaga, Mex., April 28. Carlos Guzman Moreno, 50, and Mario Moreno, 42, both of El Paso, are charged with three counts each of transporting illegal aliens. Pecos resident's death under investigationPECOS, May 8, 1998 - The body of Pecos resident Booker T. Fobbs, 105 S. Plum St., was discovered late last night at Fifth and Mulberry streets, after a phone call from Jesus Gochicoa was received at 12:33 and an ambulance dispatched for a possible drug overdose. Gochicoa said that Fobbs was dumped in front of his house by three black males driving a white pickup that had lettering on the doors. Fobbs was still alive at that time he was abandoned, said Gochicoa. Fobbs died soon after his body was dumped by the three men and the ambulance was recalled. Fobbs' death is currently under investigation by the Pecos Police Department. An autopsy to help determine the cause of death has been ordered by Justice of the Peace Amonario Ramon. AREA NEWS ROUNDUPThe Big Bend SentinelAlpine, May 7, 1998 - If Big Bend Regional Hospital District Directors are considering an alternate site for the new hospital, they're holding their cards too close to their vests. Reports spread through Alpine last week that land closer to town had been offered to the hospital district. Last year, 15 acres were donated for the hospital site by Tom and Val Beard; he's a rancher and she's an attorney and the Brewster County judge. That site is north of the Alpine airport and east of the Fort Davis highway. The site subject to speculation is south of the South Orient Railroad tracks and east of the highway, which is closer to Alpine's northern city limit, but is not under consideration, according to board president Ralph Meriweather. The InternationalPresidio, Tx. May 7, 1998 -A $63,000 budget shortfall has forced City of Presidio administrators to seriously consider rate hikes for basic city services, and prompted "crisis management measures," including a special public budget workshop on May 14, by the city council. City Administrator Michael Kovacs said Tuesday that the city's budget has been "burned to the ground" and that there will "be no spending that is not an emergency until the new fiscal year begins in October." The McCamey NewsMcCamey, May 7, 1998 - On Tuesday, April 28, the entire student body of McCamey ISD gathered in the high school auditorium to celebrate their success in the Reading Renaissance Program. A number of special guests brought congratulations and further honors to the students. The principals recounted the achievements of their campuses and bestowed special honors upon their outstanding readers. Iraan NewsIraan, May 7, 1998 - The United States Achievement Academy announced recently that Brian Parmer, from Iraan, has been named a United States National Award Winner in Band. This award is a prestigious honor very few students can ever hope to attain. The academy recognizes fewer than 10 percent of all American high school students. The Monahans NewsMonahans, May 7, 1998 -Ward Memorial Hospital Board Managers chose Lubbock Methodist Hospital System to take over operations of the financially troubled hospital during a meeting of the board last Friday. The board had put off the decision of whether Lubbock Methodist or Community Health Corp. would assume management responsibilities for Ward Memorial until new board members Loredia Potts and Alan Stockton officially joined the board. ObituaryBrawley Beauchamp, Jr.Brawley (Bob) Beauchamp, Jr. died today at his residence in Pecos. A grave side service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Mt Evergreen Cemetery. Rev. Ron Garcia will officiate. Rev. Garcia is associated with Hospice. Beauchamp was born April 16, 1938, in Pecos and was a Baptist. Survivors include: his parents Brawley and Deenie Beauchamp of Pecos. Arrangements are being handled by Pecos Funeral Home. WEATHERPECOS, May 8, 1998 - High Thursday, 93, low this morning, 53. There is a chance of showers and thunderstorms in West Texas in the central South Plains, Panhandle, low rolling plains and the Concho Valley through tonight. The National Weather Service warns that some of the thunderstorms could become severe. The chance of stormy activity will continue in the Panhandle on Saturday and the rest of West Texas will have partly cloudy skies. Lows tonight will be in the 40s and 50s in West Texas, highs Saturday will be in the 60s in the Panhandle and in the 70s, 80s and 90s elsewhere in West Texas.
Pecos Enterprise
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