European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 29, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 20 the stars and stripes tuesday August a 1978 modern Vij chemical dumps disaster of Man s making by Andrew a. Yemma halted press International t he 390 residents of Wilsonville in southwestern Illinois have won the first skirmish in what May Bea Long Legal Battle with a mighty Industry that has been dumping highly toxic chemicals in a pit near their Uny town. But residents in Many other areas of the nation appear unaware of fights being waged to protect them from deadly substances that could one Day Rise from the ground like ghouls of the chemical age at a tremendous Cost in human suffering and Money needed to clean up the disasters. The chemical dumps Are blamed for cancer cases miscarriages birth defects and allergic reactions. Some instances in Niagara palls n.y., an oozing chemical mess May drive More than 200 families from their Homes. In North Carolina officials Are trying to fed who clumped deadly pcs along highways in 15 counties. In Lowell mass., Federal officials warn that thousands of barrels of chemicals Are rusting and leaking into the ground. In Strabane pa., a dump is emitting dangerous Levels of radon Gas exceeding Federal Levels. In Washington w.va., a Plant is sitting on the site of radioactive and combustible wastes so volatile that the ground explodes like a Volcano. In Louisville ky., and new Jersey chemicals have been dumped clandestinely for the past two years. In Michigan officials still Are attempting to Dean up the Mew caused five years ago when the toxic fire Retar Dant pub accidentally was mixed with livestock feed. Industrial dumps Are not isolated. There Are thousands of them across the country. And government experts around he nation fear that 1,000 or More of them May be potential Man made disasters. Steffen Stehn Deputy assistant administrator for som waste at the environmental Protection Agency said 90 percent of the 345 million tons of hazardous wastes being produced by american Indus try each year Are not disposed of in accordance with proper environmental published estimates of the number of potential prob lems where dumped chemicals or other wastes surface years later As a threat to maa and environment have ranged As High As 1,000. Anywhere from is million to 40 million tons of hazardous wastes Are being disposed of improperly each year experts said one site of current concern to Epa and local health officials is called Sil resin in Lowell. My. There Are literally thousands of barrels of chemicals. Some Are rusting and leaking into the ground and of to now no one knows whose responsibility i or what to do about it he this month Mark started on sealing a huge Clay lined burial pit holding the rotting carcasses of 1,400 cattle laced with pub near Mio Mich. A sudden recurrence of 90-degree weather caused some animals to bloat and work their Way to the top of the pit. Yon could t with your wildest imagination think up a More ghoulish sight one official said. There s a 10-foot Mound of them with a Sand covering on top. The blood and body fluids Are spurting out of the top like Springs or geysers. Anything that Ruas Over the top is collected. Be cause of the heat and the pressure bodies were beginning to come of out of the another problem is the Midnight dumper some one paid to illegally dispose of wastes. That was the Case in the recent North Carolina incident i which pcs were dumped along 250 Miles of Highway in is counties. Other major Clandestine dumping have occurred in recent years in new Jersey and Louisville by. North Carolina officials still Aren t sure what to do about pcs contamination but they do know some tests have shown Levels More than Sod times above Federal limits. Options include removing contaminated soil or at tempting to neutralize the chemical with activated Carbon. If the Sou is removed it too must be stored somewhere at a tremendous expense to taxpayers. Officials said the North Carolina pcs entered the food Chain in creeks where the chemical was dumped and the water and fish life will be monitored for pc Content for a Long time Hito the one of the Baton s word radiation Damps it located la Strabane pa., a ton if l3t�, � Miles sooth of Pittsburgh. Its 17 acre Emit radon a a Levels exceeding Federal limits. During the last 54 years the Plant has dumped radio Active sludge into a ditch leading to the Lake in the town s Industrial Park. The Lake later was filled with dirt and Clay in compliance with 1967 radiation standards. Last year government scientists fenced off a because radon in the air exceeded state stand the . Foster co. Plant at Ting on soil that Bla Radi octto " wastes. The radiation was do covered by i at the pipe making Plant astapribf4�e Lent Volcano like explosions etch Tine so Mhz at the oozing chemical neat Oear Kagera of Bic Federal emergency to be decaral health offt Daki severe health problems Inch Avig an increased a ctr of miscarriages birth defects among children i Gic reactions. Chemicals from an old abandoned Landfill the Hooker chemical and plastics corp. I backyards and basements i the area. The i pregnant women and children under i to n ing to reimburse residents who must Homes. State judge John Russel closed the dump on aug. Is at least tempera Rel win be appealed and required the 1 remove its hazardous wastes and an Coo _ Illinois attorney general William Scott town and county s suit against earthy demonstrates that the citizens of a tin i take on a powerful Industry and redress within our but Scott said other solutions to 1 postal must be found before the problem c whatever the att Timal my it to wrap Eric take can rat it be a minimal Anont to terms of the health of the Public 8e�ttsal attorneys for Eart Tae maintained 1 Tion was provided at Wilsonville the Hatmil not aha Zarf and state and Federal no a 1 i Bonville residents Learned in april j line was accepting hazardous wastes cancer linked substance pc nyl from a polluted Missouri Damp. Residents said their Herawi and Batty 4 dazed by the Landfill and demanded it be All contents removed. The residents flan upside Down and raising Money Tori and technical advice. Maco Upin county state s attorney Kenneth he thinks it is the first time a Druit court i Down this Type of breaking thrice Barrier guiding a Trachte site men the 3.360 nautical Miles n18 Daft Moo of them through to the associated press he soviet Union has demonstrated again its ability to use the Frozen Arctic a tin As a transport route. Inking the Western and Eastern ends of the soviet Union. The 75,000-horsepower icebreaker Simbir performed the feat according to soviet press reports. They said the Simbir con Voyed a cargo ship across the ice packed top of the world two months ahead of the regular Start of the summer shipping Tea son. The russians made a similar pioneering voyage last year to the North pole. The Preis reports said the Sibi Mode the run in ii Days shepherding the loaded freighter Kapitza my the sky and covering t,3u Malicai Miles 2,800 of them through be rough be floes from the port of Murmansk in Northern Russia East to the Bering Strait which separates Siberia from three types of soviet Earth satellites assisted in the operation the russians sold. The navigation at i Tif Cosmos Uoo helped determine the position of the ves Sels. An ice reconnaissance Craft of the meteor series supplied information on ice cover. And a communications satellite relayed to programs from Moscow Accord ing to the soviet account. The soviet Union for a Long time has studied the Northern sea route As a Poten tial transport route for serving Arctic out posts but its practical use has been limited to about three months starting in july be spa a la ii a. Szyc Ai Korea Samuss top of the world cause of inadequate icebreaking capacity. In recent yen however the int Airai have becfe4 of their beet with three Mclear to Macri icebreakers. They Are the u.mt4on Leningrad and the newer and More powerful Siranda Retika. The soviet report said the Simbir and a Pilan Mishevsky sailed from Murmansk on May is. The ships slogged through the Arctic fee and
