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Show WestEdition Citizens September 5 & 6, 1995 Chemical Incineration May be Hazardous to Health Continued from page 1 sued the permit for (TOCDF. The Division claims that those agreements are with Tooele South, of which TOCDFis a part. No other documents were able to be located to determine feasibility of those preparedness and contingency agreements for TOCDF. When questioning the Division on contingency preparedness planning, the Division responded thatit is not their responsibility to assure compliance, even though Division of Editor’s Note: Tireless in the quest for citizens’ opinions,editor Vernon recently ambushed a few regular folks shopping downtown, pointed a camera at them and asked: How do youfeel about a proposed ban on “photocop” speed-enforcement devices? “Photocops” are a good idea because there is an awful lot of speeding that goes on in Salt Lake City. It scares me. I’m from Virginia — I think you drive recklessly here. It wouldn't upset meto get a ticket from a photocop — I wouldn't be happy about it, but I would feel that I de- served it. I got a ticket a while @ back from a State Trooper — he said I ran a stop sign. I don’t rememberif I did, but if he said I @ didit, then I must have doneit.” Verner Utke-Ramsing Virginia “T personally don’t like photocops that much, but I don’t know if I would oppose them. If they wereonly set up in schoolzones,I wouldn't have a problem with Verner Utke-Ramsing them — I have cuildren who are grade-schoolage. I have a clean driving record — I’ve only had one speedingticket in mylife. I don’t like the idea of a photocop watching me.” Scott Hansen Salt Lake City don’t think there should be photocops. In some places radar ae = _— is illegal. Photocops seem like a @ violation of your freedom. By the time you get the ticket in the mail you would forget you are speeding. I support the Senator who fim wants the photocops banned — I f don't think photocopsarecivil.” Sunnie Stobbe Prescott, Ariz. “We should definitely keep photocops. The Senator who @ wants them banned probably got a ticket and is mad now. What they really needin thiscityi handturn signals — it’s getting to be a big city now and we need them. I hate to drive here now.” S. Hall Salt Lake City Sunnie Stobbe “] would rather be pulled over in person than be caught by a photocop. If they just keep them in school zones that would be okay. Just don’t speed and then you don’t have to worry aboutit.” Byron Farr Kaysville “T've been caught by a photocop before, but I think they're good to have. They help us do what we are supposed to do — as long as they are correct. I was shocked to get a ticket in the mail — it was venient, However, it did Solid and Hazardous Waste regulations require that the TOCDF permit be reviewedfive years after effective date of June 30, 1989, and have updated contingency and preparedness plans (including written statements if agreement cannotbe reached), ‘The contingency and preparednesspian are also to be developed in cooperation with the Division of Comprehensive Emergency Management, Department of Public Safety and state of Utah. This is known as the “Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Plan.” The plan is to have necessary cooperative agreements with the adjacent counties to the east of Tooele County for emergency support services. In Marchofthis year, in testimony before the National Research Council's Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, Kari Sager, the director of the Tooele County Emergency Operation Management, stated that Utah and Salt Lake counties participate in exercises regarding the TOCDF. Upon further inquires from the chairman of the Committee aboutthe necessary agreements, Sager responded: “Tooele County has no agreement in place with Utah or Salt Lake counties.” According to the County attorneys for Utah and Salt Lake counties, as of June, there were no agreementsin place. What this could mean is that the residents of Utah and Salt Lake counties are being held financiaily hostage for Tooele County emergency support services without their knowledge. It could also mean that emergency support services (including equipment, personnel and hospitals), which the residents support through taxation, could become contaminated. ‘The GeneralAccounting Office report to the Senate and House of Representatives states that officials agree that in-place sheltering will be needed in chemical weaponfacilities. Assistance will be neededin all areas, and the report acknowledges that administering the assistance would be difficult. There were also concerns about controls to ensure that houses are property sealed. Some Utahns can remember the effects of in-place sheltering during the nuclearfallout from open air nucleartesting. Not much has changed from the ideology of 40 years ago. Theeffects of incineration on public health are known to present imminent hazards, and are largely an unavoidable risk to public health. The chemicals in the nerve and mustard agents stored at TOCDF are among the mostlethal on the planet, and release of small amounts of these agents can be catastrophic. Incineration of chemical weapons reieases live agents, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, through the smokestack. Dioxin is just one of the more than 1,000 chemicals to be emitted during the chemical weapons incineration process. EPA studies have linked incinerator-produced dioxin emissions to cause: cancer,sterility, endometriosis, birth defects, immune system suppression and feminization of male fetuses. One EPA report identifies levels of dioxin in the human body,referred to as the “body burden.” According to the EPA, some adverseeffects of dioxins occur at levels slightly above the average body burden levels currently found in the population, and that ‘as body burdens increase within and above this range, the probability and severity, as well as the spectrum of human non-cancereffects, mostly likely will increase.” Whatthis meansis that it will only take a small additional exposure to “push” us over the edge andtrigger adversehealth effects. In other words, no amount of additional exposure to dioxin is safe. Moreover, the EPA noted that“incineration data showshighlevels of dioxin formation at temperatures between 400-600 degrees Fahrenheit,” which is the temperature at which one componentof the TOCDFwill operate. On March 2, a “small” amount of nerve agent was detected outside the Johnston Atoll facility. This is the third knownreleaseof lethal war agentat the facility. On March 14, when the governorof Alabamaquestionedthe Armyrepresentatives about the lack of public notification of the numberof low level agent releases, Kathy Gibbs, public affairs representative for the Army’s Chemical Demilitarization program, respondedthatif the cause of the release and the corrective action is unknown, the public is not notified of the re- lease. Upon further questioning concerning the numberof occurrencesof this type of release, which have not been reported to Congress and the public, Gibbs responded, “i don’t know.” Concerning the surrogate trial burn for TOCDFliquid incinerator number one, the surrogate trial burn plan was developed by the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste with public input. The Division determined that the surrogate trial burn would not present imminenthazards to humanhealth or the environment, but ironically, an independent TOCDFsite-specific Health and Safely Plan was prepared by the Division’s contractor, whichwasnotpart of the public documents in which imminent hazards to human health were determined.It turnsoutthat the contrac- Music Study —S— “*Ss Improves Academics tor determinedit was necessary to complete a site-specific health and safety plan before allowing workers to enter TOCDF. Too bad the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste does not deem it necessary to do a site-specific health and safety plan for the surrogate compounds used for the surrogate trial burns of the five chemical weapons incinerators at TOCDF. It is ironic that the Division’s goals and objectives state that its purposeis to protect human health and the environment within reasonable doubt. There are federal and state regulations which require that promulgation of performance standards, which establish the levels of environmental protection that the hazardous waste, treatment, storage and disposal facilities must achieve, and mandated the criteria against which application of the permit must be measured. This is part of the Division’s federally mandated compliance and state regulatory requirements. The question is: How is the Division to do thatif a site-specific health and safety plan is not done before the surrogate trial burns, to determine that no imminent hazards will oceur and to establish the necessary levels of criteria for the protection of the environment and human health? The Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste claims that an independentengineer's certification for the liquid incinerator number one was also not needed for the Division's approval of the surrogate trial burn, and is now claiming it will not be needed for the upcoming surrogate trial burn for two other proposedincinerators at TOCDF’. The Army and the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste claim that TOCDF has completed the surrogate trial burns for the liquid incinerator numberone. The following metaphor could demonstrate whatthis could mean: you come to a bridge where there is a notice that reads, “Use at your ownrisk. Engineers have not assured the safety or design of bridge.” While this simple metaphor mightbe over stating the complexities of TOCDF’s five incinerators,it does establish the added necessary precaution and protection that the Division of Solid and Hazardous Waste needs to be taking into account to assure against human expendability, now and in the future. It is unclear what documents supported the Division’s decision that promulgatedcriteria that there was no imminenthazard to human health and the environmentduring the surrogate trial burn for the liquid incinerator number one. Also, whatcriteria were used to de- termine and to be maintained during the surrogate trial burns if there was neither a site-specific health and safety plan noran independent engineer’s certification? Are we to assumethat the Division is requestingthe residents downwind of TOCDF te breath at their own risk? a Witte 15, pepe gn comer Continued from page 1 While singingis includedin the curriculum as early as Kindergarten, instrumental music isn’t offereduntil fifth or sixth grades in most elementary schools. Then teachers are often concerned about the students missing their classes to attend instrumental Stephen England Layton “Photocopsare a great idea because there are too many speed- 4 ing idiots going through school zones. I havelittle kids and I would like for there to be a photocop in every school zone. Peeple come barreling down the road at 35 mph in neighborhoods Stephen England — they needto be given tickets.” Russell Mitcheli WoodsCross ‘I thinkit’s fine to have them in school zones because children are crossing the street. Otherwise, I don’t think they are that great.” Jenny Martin Salt Lake City “We should keep photocops. Since the photocops cameout, in reenrenrmne the last few years, there has been a significant decrease in traffic accidents in West Valiey. I did a research paper on this for my English class —J read thestatistics which were from the police department which proved photocops worked in decreasing accidents.” Shally Dragna South Salt Lake “The problem with the photocop is that other peopie drive your vehicle. How do you know who wasdriving at that time your car was photographed? Tickets “A an nes Shally Dragna should be based on your license, not on your vehicle. Physical contact is better when issuinga ticket —- the photocop seems so imper- sonai. The officer should stop and talk to the person whois speed- ing. If you just get a ticket in the mail, you don’t even remember when you were speeding.It's differentif you are pulled over with Dixie Ence Salt Lake City music. “We have foundthereis no significant differences in academics in these students when compared with students who remainin their regular classes,” says Worthen. Yet a few years ago instrumental music classes in elementary schools were cut from two hours to one hour per week because of lack of funds. So now junior high bands are notas weil-trained, and mustplay simpler music. But some instrumental music is better than none, says Worthen, because participation in instrumental and vocal groups also can reduce disciplinary problems. He cites the story of a high school in New York where no one graduated. All of the students dropped out early. Then a requirement for music study was made mandatory and the graduation rate went up to 98 percent. A similar case has been seen in one of the high schoolsin Granite School District, he says. Some gang kids were skipping classes and having problemswith the police. Then a Polynesian choir was started and the students came to the choir class, although theystill skipped other classes. Evenif a young person does not actually sing in 2 choir or piay an instrument, he or she can benefit from listening to “quality, responsible music,” says Judd. “There have been studies that state if children have been ex- posed to extensive Mozart while doing homework, it improves their I.Q. seven to eight points.” All Baroque music, which in4 Be BILL GATES WIN DOW'S5 cludes work of Handel and Bach up through Mozart, can be beneficiai, says Judd. “These compositions follow sophisticated patterning. They engage the interest of mind.” But if music repeats a pattern again and again, as it does in modern Rap music, it turns learningoff. “Rap music is not good,” says Jadd. “Lyrics are about violence and crime. There is danger whea these stay in the mind.” At the other end of the spectrum are the nine symphonies of Beethoven. “If children listen to these they do well in science and math, or any subject where discipline is required,” Judd adds. With all these facts now on record, Worthen, Judd and other educators wish that the government would change its emphasis. “If most of our legislative bodies understood the significance of what music does for students,” says Judd, “instead of putting money inte computers. they would put money into music lessons and instruments. Then all the rest would foliow.” Citizens Published as a supplement to The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News by the Newspaper Agency Corporation, 135 South Main Street, Sait Lake City, UT 84111. The opinions expressed by the writers in Citizens do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of The Tribune or News. Your submisaions to Citizens (eclumas, cartoons or letters) are welcomed. To contact Citizens, phone (801) 237-2716, fax to (891) 237-2519 or mail your comments to the address above. Columns on computer disk are preferred, but not required A free writer’s guide is available upon request. Managing Editer: Cynthia M. Cook Editor: Laurs Vernon To subscribe to The Tribune or News, phone 237-2906. Forinformation on advertising, phone (801) 237-2815. ? ‘ |
