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Show T mi iiiiuiiii II nm nil ii 1 ROBERT HURLEY, one of the over 200 respondents in the Best of Vernal survery, was the winner of a $100 check from the Vernal Express. Selenium in Ashley Creek could endanger fish Endangered Colorado River fish face a new peril in the wild: selenium seleni-um levels in some northeast Utah waters that are up to 12 times the level considered safe for wildlife. Selenium, a naturally occurring element el-ement animals require in trace amounts, can in large quantities cause severe birth defects in wildlife. Irrigation drain water and leakage from sewage treatment lagoons la-goons near Vernal filter through the soil and shale deposits, transporting large amounts of selenium to the Green . River and some nearby creeks and ponds. High concentrations of selenium in Ashley Creek and Stewart Lake, near Jensen have caused deformed waterfowl embryos and could also harm endangered Colorado River fish, according to Bruce Waddell, a biologist - with the " U.S. Fish and ; Wildlife Service in Salt Lake City. Federal agencies found selenium concentrations of 60 to 70 parts per billion at the confluence of Ashley Creek and the Green-River, which is key habitat for endangered Colorado squawfish and near the primary known spawning grounds for razorback suckers in the upper Colorado River Basin. In Ashley Creek tributaries upstream, up-stream, concentrations as high as 10,000 to 15,000 parts per billion have been reported. The state of Utah's standard for protecting aquatic life is no more than 5 parts of selenium per billion in water. "We have source points of selenium seleni-um that no one knew about six years ago," said Bruce Waddell, a biologist with the Fish and Wildlife Service in Salt Lake City. "I don't think selenium is the primary prob Uintah and Duchesne Counties First Annual Education Conference on Child Abuse April 21 & 22 Identify, Report and Protect Our Children from Abuse. April 21 Western Park Area Vernal, UT 6:00 p.m. April 22 Union High School Roosevelt, UT 6:00 p.m. The causes, effects and signs of abuse will be the focus for this 1993 conference. An evening seminar on the factual information on the issues of child abuse; entirely dedicated to educators, service providers, community leaders, child care providers and parents. Guest Speaker: Scotti L. Davis Director of the Utah Chapter of Prevention of Child Abuse The Facts On Child Abuse "How to Identify, Report and Protect Children from Abuse" Question and Answer Panel with: County officials, Protective Services, Law Enforcement and Medical representatives. Healthy Families: A discussion of the role communities and individuals have in creating, ; nurturing, and sustaining healthy families. Uintah County Susan Pease, Principal of Uintah Learning Center Instructor of Parenting and Childhood Development Duchesne County V Roger Christensen, MS Family Human Development Doctoral Student and Instructor of Family Science Brought (o you by: The Daggett, Duchesne & Uintah CAP Team (Child Abuse Prevention Team). Ulnh Chapter of the National Committee of the Prevention of Child Abuse, Family Support Center of the Uinlah Basin. Interagency Counsel on Early Intervention, and...lhe concerned citizens and caring professionals and parents of Daggett, Duchesne and Uintah Counties lem (for endangered fish), but it is a compounding factor and one. we need to deal with." Muscle tissue samples taken from razorback suckers in the Green River near Ashley Creek and Stewart Lake showed concentrations concentra-tions of selenium averaging about 25 parts per million. Scientists believe be-lieve that in fish muscle tissue, selenium sele-nium concentrations above 8 parts per million can cause reproductive problems. (To test for selenium, a small tissue plug is removed from the fish and analyzed without harming harm-ing the fish.) Effects on birds near Stewart Lake already have been severe. Researchers have found waterfowl embryos with no eyes, abnormally short legs and extremely deformed feet, Waddell said. -. . ,h Leakage from the waste water treatment facility near Vernal contributes con-tributes the largest amount of selenium seleni-um in this area. Changing that would require redesigning the sewage treatment lagoons. Possible solutions for the irrigation drain projects near Vernal and Jensen include in-clude changing irrigation practices from flood to sprinkler, managing waterfowl areas differently and treating or diluting contaminated water. Considerable selenium also is present pre-sent in the Price River, a tributary to the Green. But if endangered fish in the Price River are not in the pre-spawning pre-spawning stage, they may not suffer reproductive problems, Waddell said. Higher flows in Colorado's Yampa and White rivers dilute selenium sele-nium concentrations and are not believed be-lieved to pose a problem for wildlife. Chamber annual meeting to be held Saturday Phil Ricsen, 5 p.m. anchor for KUTV news, will be the speaker at the annual meeting of the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce. He will speak on community pride. The meeting will be held Saturday, April 17 at 7:00 at the Weston Plaza Hotel. A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. During the evening five directors will be elected. Outgoing directors are Rita Wetenkamp, Dennis Molt, Heather Campbell, Gayle McKeachnie and Janet Wallis. Four will remaim on the ballot: Wallis, Weterkamp, Mott and McKeachnie. Evangelist Samuel Matthews will be new on the ballot. Campbell is leaving the board. Nominees are chosen by a com Finance committee urges board to hold voted leeway by Kathleen Irving Express Writer District Finance Ad Hoc Committee chairman Irvin Haws again urged the Board to conduct a voted leeway election in the district, saying the committee felt "quite strongly" about the request. Haws told the Board the time had passed for a voted leeway to go into effect for the '93-'94 school year, but said there was now time for community education measures to be implemented before a fall election. elec-tion. Board president Judd agreed with the need to properly educate the voting public about the necessity of the leeway, but was not anxious to pass a resolution starting the process pro-cess before the Board completes the budget for the upcoming year sometime some-time in the next six weeks. "After we get the budget established estab-lished we'll be able to see what needs to be trimmed," said Judd. "Then we can see our needs and spell out with some specificity what the leeway money, would be used for.' The 'Community needs" to see' that we're at the end of our dollars." Central Elementary PTA president presi-dent Linda Strode reported to the Board on the condition of a 32 piece art collection owned by the school but currently being managed, under agreement, by the Western Park Museum. Strode said the original agreement with Western Park required the museum mu-seum to provide security and insurance insur-ance for the collection, and to ensure en-sure that the artwork was appropriately appropri-ately displayed. "In our opinion," said Strode, "they aren't living up to their agreement." The collection has never been properly photographed or appraised, and Strode said she was concerned about the way paintings were being stored and displayed. She estimated mittee of five past presidents. During Campbell's nine years on the board she served on the executive execu-tive board and is a past president. She is a recipient of the Outstanding Public Service award. Entertainment during the evening will be by members of the Uintah Hi-Litcs under the direction of Reed Hansen. Also honored at the meeting will be the Outstanding Public Service Award recipients for 1992-93: Marie Yodcr, Ray Kicr, Max Haslcm and Mark Foley. The Total Citizen recipient, John Beaslin, will also be honored. Anyone desiring to attend the meeting may call the Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce by noon Thursday, April 15. that just two of the paintings were worth over $58,000. The School Board directed Strode to reacquire the art collection from the Museum, place it in safe storage and arrange for photography and appraisals ap-praisals to be done. The Uintah County Sheriff's Department has given notice to UHS students and the community that they will begin towing vehicles parked in red zones at the high school. The ongoing problem has not improved im-proved with the issuing of citations and the Sheriff's department believes be-lieves towing cars will be more effective ef-fective in eliminating the parking hazard. UHS principal Ted Taylor says the situation is not a student, but a community, com-munity, problem. "Our kids know where to park," said Taylor. "We aren't going to worry about it any more. We can't hire someone to stand out there and tell each person not to park in a clearly marked red zone." SB p I7WD The Climate Puzzle on mm mm w MP WMLi THE WEATHER CHANNEL INSIGHT, I ICABLEVISIOH '(k Public roads EA ready for review An Environmental Assessment (EA) referred to as "Right-of-Way Uintah County Roads" is available for public review and may be obtained from the Vernal District BLM Office. This EA was prepared in response to a right-of-way application appli-cation filed by Uintah County pursuant pur-suant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and analyzes the impacts associated with the issuance is-suance of a right-of-way for approximately approx-imately 135 miles of existing roads which traverse public lands; The BLM will receive written comments on the Uintah County Road EA through May 11. Comments received by this date will be taken into consideration by BLM prior to making a final decision concerning the proposed action. Comments addressing the adequacy of the analysis or which provides new information are sought Farmers planting intentions for '93 Utah farm operators, as of March 1, indicate they intend to plant fewer few-er acres of barley, but plant more acres of spring wheat, oats, and corn than a year ago according to the Utah Agricultural Statistics Service. Dry bean acres are unchanged and acres to be harvested for hay are expected ex-pected to be lower than last year. If current growers' intentions are realized, real-ized, Utah farmers will plant 27,000 acres of other spring wheat up 8 percent from last year, 50,000 acres of oats up 11 percent, 70,000 acres of corn up 3 percent, and 115,000 acres of barley down 8 percent Expected acreage of dry beans at 6,000 acres are unchanged from 1992. Hay harvest is expected to be 620,000 acres, down 2 percent from last year. Nationally, the 1993 planting intentions in-tentions are as follows: other spring wheat, 19.0 million acres up 1 percent; corn, 76.5 million acres down 4 percent; barley, 7.7 million acresdown 2 percent; oats, 8.1 million acres up 2 percent; per-cent; and dry beans, 1.7 million acres up 6 percent. KUHr call 789 Vernal Express Wednesday, April 14, 1993 7 FRANKLY, I JUST CALL MY A I BANK FOR THE V ANSWER. J J 1 J rf ft l ii in iii mi myjmtAl 'What's the best way to plan for my grandchild's financial future?" Your bank has many saving and investment programs for people of all ages. Banks offer innovative plans for a child's education, your retirement, and other long term objectives. Your bank is still the safest place for your money with all deposits insured by the FDIC up to $100,000. No matter what your age, talk to your bank about the best way to meet your savings goals and objectives. O hum SUNDAYS? THURSDAYn SATURDAY 4H - 1723 oUs yto i: |