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Show 1 j ll$IiI$IL I I www.vernal.com f CR UT PRESORT -0 C w Ai UTAH PRESS ASSOCIATION 1521 E 3900 S SLC, UT 84124 S 1 - - 7T - - EPA mercury response team from Denver and John Nelsen, district safety any traces of mercury. Mercury spill shuts By Steven R. Wallis Express Editor Health officials have determined deter-mined that the exposure at the Vernal Middle School due to a mercury spill last week was "extremely minimal," and the evacuation of the school was a precautionary measure. At about 10:30 a.m. Thursday last week Uintah Superintendent Charles Nelson evacuated the 780 students and staff from the school. Students and staff didn't return until Monday this week. "I was impressed with how quickly students and teachers evacuated," said Principal Ed Johnson. "This is something you practice for and it is great when it goes smoothly. We were out of the building in a matter of minutes." An EPA mercury response team from Denver was called to the school to do a cleanup. They arrived late Thursday. The building's windows were opened and fans were placed inside to air out the facility during the night. Friday morning morn-ing the EPA crew found several hot spots for mercury inside the school. "There were a few hot spots but nothing life-threatening," said David Morrill, EPA crew member. Most of the mercury was found outside the building in a crack between the sidewalk side-walk and the curb, but there was evidence that the mercury had been tracked into the building. build-ing. It was determined that IT'. ' 5 v vfrr Several roads in Uintah County, like shortage of liquid asphalt. L - CHILDRENS JUSTICE Ride for a good cause See B1 See Jack Powell Story on C6 ?i i 1 UiSr vn r : - the carpet in the entry way of the school didn't need to be replaced, but a new door mat was put in place, said Randy Upton, Uintah School District, business administrator., According to Shaffer all precautions pre-cautions have been taken and there has been very little public health risk. Shaffer commended commend-ed the Uintah School District as well as the Environmental Protection Agency for their rapid response to the potential risk of mercury exposure. Less than two tablespoons of mercury was located on the sidewalk near the west entrance to the school and near the lunch room entrance. A person per-son who went home ill from the school before the mercury was discovered was not ill because of the mercury, Shaffer said. "Now we need to focus on where the mercury came from," Upton said Monday. Vernal City Police are investigating investi-gating the source of the mercury. mercu-ry. Commissioner Dave Haslem said he was informed that the mercury was there as early as Monday evening last week. "Those signing up for volleyball vol-leyball through Parks and Recreation said they saw some kids playing with it outside the building," Haslem said. "It was reported to officials." Wednesday evening Haslem said he received a telephone call from a woman who demanded that the mercury be cleaned up. Haslem contacted Upton Wednesday night. The TriCounty Health Department Hazmat Team Photo by Janine Shannon 1500 West, remain unpaved due to a FOOTBALL .jrfS 3t Utes get first win B6 and secruity supervisor, survey air down middle school 1 . s, f v iWS -i M-x .4 Mercury droplets are wedged in crack between sidewalk and curb at Vernal Ver-nal Middle School. and the EPA will continue to monitor the site for mercury exposure. Shaffer provided the following information with regards to elemental mercury exposure. Elemental Mercury Exposure: Expo-sure: When elemental mercury is spilled or a device containing mercury breaks, the exposed elemental mercury can evaporate evapo-rate and become an invisible, odorless toxic vapor. This is especially true in warm or poorly-ventilated rooms or spaces. Sources of potential exposure to elemental mercury are described below. Elemental or metallic mercury mer-cury is the liquid metal used in thermometers, barometers, and thermostats and other electrical Asphalt shortage leaves roads undone By Janine Shannon Express Writer A shortage of liquid asphalt, which is mixed with rock to pave roads, has put several road projects in Uintah County behind schedule. Various factors fac-tors have influenced this shortage, short-age, but it is mainly due to new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations placed on oil refineries earlier this summer. Liquid asphalt, also called asphalt oil, is a by-product of the oil refining process. The new EPA standards, effective June 1, forced refineries to shut down for a time in order to modify plants to produce oil with lower sulfur content. This transition limited the amount quality around Vernal Midle School for .1..- ..,1 switches. Metallic mercury is often found in school laboratories laborato-ries as well as in thermometers, barometers, switches, thermostats, thermo-stats, and other devices found in school science labs. It is not uncommon for children chil-dren to break fever thermometers thermom-eters in their mouths. Mercury that is swallowed in such cases poses low risk in comparison to the risk of breathing mercury vapor. There are some necklaces imported from Mexico that contain a glass pendant that contains mercury. The mercury-containing pendants can come in various shapes such as hearts, bottles, balls, saber teeth, and chili peppers. If broken, bro-ken, they release metallic mercury mer-cury to the environment. of liquid asphalt available to asphalt suppliers and contractors. contrac-tors. As a result, local contractors contrac-tors are looking at having to reschedule paving projects, which may not be. completed until next year. Suppliers, like Burdick Paving in Vernal, have had to search for other outlets to purchase asphalt oil. Even so, supplies are rationed. Burdick Paving currently receives two to three loads a week, which is only 15 percent to 20 percent what it used to receive. Such high demand has also caused prices to skyrocket. Bannock Paving now pays $425 per ton as opposed to $175 per ton previously. According to Cheri McCurdy, executive office manager for the Uintah 830 831 8857 8552 Plenty of sun. Highs Partly cloudy, in the upper 80s and chance of a thunder- $16 million to Uintah Basin By Elizabeth Goode Express Writer The Utah Permanent Community Impact Fund Board (CIB) has approved $16,458,562 in grants and low interest loans to assist rural communities in the Uintah Basin. The board funds annually in April, August, and December, and this marked the beginning of the three funding cycles for 2007. "The approved funds greatly assist the need in our impacted impact-ed communities," stated Craig Collett, Daggett County Commissioner and CIB Board member. All loans are at zero percent interest for the term of the loan. Ashley Valley Water and Sewer Improvement District received a $857,616 grant and $857,000 in a 20-year loan for sewer system improvements including 41 new manholes, new lines and a new lift station. Uintah County Municipal Building Authority, for the construction of a Tri-County Health Department building, was awarded $1,900,000 in grant money and the same amount for a 30-year loan. In order to meet the growing needs of both technology and the local population popu-lation increase, a new building was needed. It will also allow all of the offices, which are now located in separate buildings, to be under one roof. Vernal City received a $750,000 grant and a 25-year loan of $250,000 for the purchase pur-chase of a new Sky Arm Aerial fire truck. Naples City, for the construc tion of a pre cast concrete maintenance main-tenance equipment building, was awarded a $250,000 grant. Uintah Recreation District and the Uintah County County settles for less road repair material Uintah County had to settle for 1400 ton less road hotmix because the total amount isn't available and the cost has nearly near-ly doubled for the material the county uses to repair its roads. At the first of the year, Uintah County prepaid for 10,000 tons of hot mix asphalt at $30 a ton from Burdick Paving and had received over half of their purchase pur-chase before the asphalt shortage short-age set in. Monday Deputy County Attorney Ed Peterson advise the county to take Burdick's offer of only delivering 2,800 tons of what is left owing to the Special Service District, the market is so volatile that prices can only hold for about an hour. This makes it nearly impossible impos-sible for contractors to provide bids to potential customers. Allred Paving in Vernal provides an alternate type of asphalt made from mixing rock with an oily sand that is mined in the area. This asphalt is acceptable for most private projects, but because of natural natu-ral variations that somewhat limit control, county and city projects generally require asphalt that is made with liquid asphalt. Some projects in Vernal, however, have been able to continue as scheduled. The bid for chip seal oil, which is also in short supply, was made far enough ahead that the supplier Single Copy 50t Vernal, Utah 84078 114th Year No. 33 WEATHER BY ASTESHOOK KEAUT.INC- See C5 Municipal Building Authority (UCMBA) worked together to build the proposed multi-use recreation facility in Vernal, including swimming pool, indoor track and classrooms. $5 million came in a 30-year loan to UCMBA, and $2 million loan for 15-years was awarded to the Recreation District. Four construction con-struction companies were interviewed inter-viewed Wednesday evening and a contract will be negotiated as soon as possible. Plans are to break ground within 30 days of the contract finalization. The target date for opening is November of 2007. Jensen Water Improvement District received a $1,308,000 grant and $400,000 in a 30-year loan for water system improvements improve-ments including replacing undersized pipes and installing new lines. Daggett County Road and Transportation Special Service District received $359,946 in grant money and a $200,000 15-year loan for road improvements, improve-ments, including asphalt overlay over-lay on deteriorating roads. Duchesne City received a $213,000 grant and $213,000 in a 20-year loan as supplemental funds for water and sewer system sys-tem improvements. The CIB is a program of the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development, which is a division of the Utah Department of Community and Culture. It assists state and local agencies and entities that are impacted by mineral resource development on federal feder-al land through grants and low-interest low-interest loans for the planning, construction, and maintenance of public facilities. The funds also help community agencies provide public services. A portion por-tion of the funding comes from the mineral lease monies. county. "It is in the best interest of the county to agree to take the 2,800 tons," Peterson said. "It is impossible, if not commercially commercial-ly feasible to deliver the entire amount at the same cost." With the delivery of the hot-mix hot-mix Uintah County can continue con-tinue to patch holes in county roads through the fall. "This agreement is not a big money maker for Burdick either," Peterson said. "Unforeseeable circumstances have caused the hot mix shortage." short-age." set aside the amount of product needed to complete the job. Shortage problems are not limited to Uintah County. While oil refinery production has remained relatively steady over the .past few years, the demand for asphalt products has increased nationally. Under such circumstances circumstanc-es it is difficult to say when certain projects will be completed. com-pleted. Concerning 1500 West, McCurdy said that until it can be paved, a prime coat has been laid between 100 North and 500 North in order to seal the road and keep the dust down. The area between 500 North and 1500 North is still under construction, con-struction, but McCurdy said the entire road will be paved in stages, hopefully in September. II l |