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Show r COUT TOUGt rtfNCTH SI 10G!STCS Kllil Survey responses See Page 2. i j i I i i if s l j Vol. 45 No. 43 AFB, Utoh HIU 0 Nov. 1, 1991 0S6. rJu 1(S - wI ft), Ca 4liS"o ft ooviv.. by Gary Hatch Hilltop Times editor Mother Nature slammed the door shut on Indian summer last week. With vigor. Ten days ago Hill AFB people were enjoying balmy temperatures in shirt-sleev- 5990 e the 70s. Fifteen days ago, temperatures were pushing 80. The thermometer now shivers as it sports an icicle and displays highs in the low to mid 30s. Hill's average high temperature for October is 61 degrees Fahrenheit, and for November it's 46 degrees. This sudden cold snap sent people scurrying to drain their home swamp coolers and sprinkler systems, crank up their furnaces and pull their parkas out of moth- balls. A rapid shift in weather patterns pushed the weather from uncommonly warm to uncommonly cold in a matter of a few days, said SSgt. Ed Lacroix, forecaster for the 2849th Weather Flight. And more systems just like this appear to be on the horizon. "Basically winter just came early this year," Lacroix said. The cold air that now envelopes the West and stretches into the Midwest is on an express route direct from the Gulf of Alaska, Lacroix said. The system brought two inches of snow to Hill on Oct. 24 and another inch since. The snow came more than three weeks ahead of schedule the average first snowfall occurs Nov. 16. In addition, blustery winds up to 39 knots have been clocked whipping across the base. Winds gusting to 25 knots are the norm. Lacroix says temperatures will likely rise to the mid- - to high 40s today and perhaps tomorrow, before the next cold front hits this weekend. Hill people can call for daily short-rang- e weather forecast information, updated every six hours by the weather flight, at Ext. 72643. jrnve for inspection Members of a Soviet inspection team will arrive Monday for their first visit to Hill AFB under terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The Soviet team is scheduled to arrive about 10 a.m. from Dulles International Airport, Va., on a U.S. Starlifter transport aircraft for their two-daAir Force 1 Hill visit. The Soviets' visit and arrival ceremony are not open to the base population or public. During their stay, the Soviets will participate in the technical exhibition phase of the treaty compliance process, which involves viewing and measuring various items which are inspectable under START. The Ogden Air Logistics Center here is logistics support manager for the Minuteman and Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are primary assets in the U.S. strategic arsenal. The Soviets are expected to return to Hill periodically during the lifetime of the treaty. Although the treaty was signed in July by President George Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, it has yet to be ratified by the U.S. Senate and the Soviet legis- ! i er y C-14- i ' i I i lature. I! I IT To find out more on START and the presi n!: dent's nuclear initiatives, please turn to Pages 6 and Editor's 7. -- j n.- Crews use foam to clean up spi """""""" by David W. Harris Environmental Management Directorate Crews, supervised by the Environmental Manage- - ment Directorate, completed preliminary work re- cently to clean up a chemical spill located at Hill I ii.iji.ni A l Willi J J uJ' j ' J '' ''J'" . ' r " f " , v-- j i 5 i "' I I AFB's Defense Reutilization Marketing Office. Workers employed a foaming extraction chemical to remove polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from the asphalt at the south end of DRMO's scrap yard, The chemical, known as Capsur, literally pulls the PCBs from the asphalt, allowing for a relatively easy ,. , a JI . I - J - . 4 T :'J w r v' i ' h - ! H& M WOr ; f 0 " U S Dressed for spill Wet-dr- y .f KJ. ; :J tit. .si Aii Force Pho'c by Dovid Mu!1 . vacuums are used to suck up foam that has neutralized the effects of an accidental spill. liOpcn sccscn Insurance coverage can be changed Russian tresis visit:. Inspectors come to Utah e footpath. - 'U M hf, ; cost-effectiv- worked. "We decided to use Capsur because it seemed to be effective and was much cheaper than digging up the asphalt and hauling it away," Garland said. Costs for excavation were estimated at $200,000, while the cost for the Capsur cleanup will probably be less than $20,000, Garland said. PCBs are a toxic substance commonly found in older electrical transformers and are thought to be dangerous to humans and wildlife. Environmental Management officials said the PCBs pose little threat to the public or to workers. Garland said the asphalt has acted as an effective barrier to the soil beneath it and the small area of contamination outside the fence is not used as a ." ..." :i hJY',! ' ' ... . t - m-a'""- " method of extraction. "I heard about Capsur at a PCB conference," said Bob Garland, an environmental engineer with EM. The manufacturer offered a free demonstration of the product, so we let him apply it to an area we knew was contaminated with PCBs. The test and The PCBs were discovered by accident. While moving nearly empty fuel bladders in the spring of 1989, a bladder was punctured, spilling diesel fuel onto the asphalt. Crews immediately cleaned up the spilled fuel. However, subsequent analysis of the cleanup materials and the residual fuel indicated the presence of PCBs. Because of PCBs' toxicity, vironmental officials immediately sought the source of the chemical. Investigations revealed that the PCBs existed in the asphalt prior to the diesel fuel spill and were probably the remains of a spill 20 years earlier. Further testing indicated the spill area covered approximately 2,400 square feet of asphalt. Once workers isolated the contaminated area, they took additional samples to determine if PCBs had gotten into the ground below and around the asphalt. The results showed a small area of contamination in the soil beyond the DRMO's perimeter D Please see Foam, DDI!: Latest in required military fashions Page 2. |