European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 10, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 10, 1987 the stars and stripes Page 5 toxic fuel threatens millions group says Washington truck shipments or toxic air Force rocket propel Lam arc endangering an estimated i million people in 41 cities and the air Force has not warned local officials of the hazards an environmental group has charged. The environmental policy Institute said it had writ ten he mayors City councils and lire authorities in those cities mostly in the Southeast the South or inc Southwest urging them to Lake action to protect their residents against accidents involving the chemical nitrogen Lear oxide. The Institute urged the air Force to change routes to avoid populated areas consider relocating the manufacturing Plant and ship the chemical in the form of a non volatile gel. The air Force takes greater precautions on its own bases requiring use of special explosive routes than it requires in olt base shipments the Institute charged. Air Force Spok woman june Green said she was not familiar enough with the accusations of inc Institute to respond immediately. We have been shipping this chemical for Over 20 years following routes prescribed by the transportation department and stale optic its she said. She referred a caller to another official at Kelly fab near san Antonio Texas. That official did not immediately return a Telephone Call. The chemical is manufactured by Vert a chemical com. In Virts Burg miss., and is shipped by private trucking companies under air Force contract. Fred Millar of the Institute which is a Washington based advocacy group that lobbies on behalf of envy r on men in i causes said shipments recently had been made about two or three times a week. He said inc air Force estimates that by 199s shipments will average about 30a year. Nitrogen ctr oxide is used As an oxidizer in several rockets and was used in the now retired Titan ii mis Sile. The air Force uses it at Vandyn Borg fab in califor Nia its primary rocket launch site. It also is used by the National aeronautics and space administration at Cape canaveral Fla with the air Force handling shipments there. Nitrogen Octroi Iida does not appear on the list of 402 acutely toxic chemicals issued by the environmental Protection Agency for which communities should have emergency plans. It is not listed in a Standard chemical handbook the Merck manual. But the Institute said nitrogen ctr oxide Gas is Al most As toxic As Methyl soc Yanac the pesticide raw material thai killed More than 2,000 people and injured about 100,000 during a leak from it Union car bide co. Plant in India in december 198. Fifty parts per million of nitrogen Tel oxide is immediately dangerous to life and health More so be cause lethal doses can be inhaled without much irritation the Institute said. A spill would require evacuation of a one at least a half of a mile wide and anywhere from four to 12 Miles Long inc Institute said. The Institute said air Force tests in 1985 in inc Nevada desert showed thai nitrogen Tel oxide is 14 times As hazardous As previously believed. The group said it had not been Able to get the full lest results released and had tiled a request for them under the Freedom of  Ion act. Dod wastes millions on radar study says Washington a the Navy and air Force Are still wasting millions of dollars because they Haven i coordinated programs to buy radar warning receivers for i hair air planes a House com Mittee reported. The report by the government operations committee said the services Aren t trying to work together even though with relatively minor adaptations to the different aircraft configurations the receivers could be developed tested and produced jointly by inc two  the study is the latest of a series of criticisms that began in 1982, when the committee warned that Money would be wasted unless the Navy and air Force coordinated their receiver programs. The receivers sit in the cockpits of the planes and use a variety of technologies to identify threats including Range and direction and rank the threats in order of danger. Currently according to the commit tee the Navy and air Force a buying nine different receivers for their planes and the entire Purchase is expected to Cost $6.6 billion by the time All planes Are equipped. Pentagon officials during past reviews by the committee have agreed thai it makes Good sense to follow a common purchasing approach and have said they arc trying to do that. In practice however the air Force and inc Navy have gone their separate ways from the beginning and continue to do so the panel said. Spokesmen for the services asked for comment did not immediately return Telephone Calls. In inc past the services have justified the separate purchases by contending that using systems common to a variety of planes would require expensive changes in aircraft wiring. These procurements show service parochialism at its wont perpetuated in Defiance of longstanding congressional and defense department policy the re port said. Because of limitations in some receivers used by the Navy the panel said the service ended up buying radar detectors known As fuzzy users which were commercially available and which were commonly sold to motorists to warn them of police Speed traps. The detectors were then modified and put Inlo pm and a-6 planes it noted. Pumpkin Patch Cutie Little Sarah you Fiman of Carver mass., can t mask her pleasure at finding just he right pumpkin lot her halloween Jack of lantern. The 2- far old hid her Choice of the biggest and inc Best in the Patch in Acushnet but settled on a pumpkin she could carry herself. Competition does t suit program stealth monopoly endorsed Washington a a classified study conducted by an Independent think Lank has concluded the air Force should Slick with Jusi one prime contractor for the new stealth bomber a lop official said. Based on those results the air Force will continue to resist congressional pres sure that it eliminate the monopoly on stealth held by California s Northrop corp., said James f. Mcgovern under Secretary of the air Force. The study performed by the Rand corp., was delivered to the air Force last week and was forwarded to defense Secretary Caspar a Weinberger earlier this week Mcgovey said. The results of that were that Rand  indicated that it was not a program that should be competed at the prime level and that there is a prudent and reasonable amount of Competition going on at the subcontractor level and the sub sub level and that it ought not to be competed he said. The Security needs surrounding the program and the relatively Small number of air planes to be built 132 were the chief factors filed by Rand in arguing against the idea of trying to attract a Sec Ond competing builder at this stage Mcgovern said. The idea for More Competition was a Good one but it just does t suit the Pur pose of this program it s just not a very Good it in this program. The Rand study is very conclusive on that  Mcgovern who met with a group of Pentagon correspondents on thursday also disclosed he would not authorize development of a new air plane to replace the service s acini Fleet of a-10 thunderbolts. The a-10 is a close air support plane meaning it is designed to support army troops by attack ing ground targets. According to Pentagon sources the air Force s own scientific advisory Board As Well As civilian planners in Weinberger s office have recommended development of a replacement for the a-10 that could be optimized for close air support. Mcgovern however said he finds such recommendations impossible to even con Sider in this budget environment i think we clearly have aircraft in our inventory now that could be modified to meet that Mission requirement he said. I think it makes no sense particularly in this budget environment to have much of a discussion Over whether or no one builds a new aircraft in order to Ful fill the close air support Mission while no decisions have been made Mcgovey said one plane that could be modified for the Job would be the of Tai fighting Falcon. That could prove a real Boon to the general dynamics corp., the sole builder of that single engine Jet fighter. The air Force commissioned the study of the stealth bomber so named because of its ability to evade radar because of a move in Congress to crack Northrop s monopoly. The air Force plans to buy 132 of the planes for $36,6 billion in 1981 dollars. Rep. Les Aspin d-wis., chairman of inc House armed services committee has argued that Competition offers the Best Hope of avoiding some of the problems that have plagued the air Force s 6-1b bomber. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago . 10,1947a United Julio com Mittic voted 34-6 la approve the . Proposal thai the general Assembly establish a Spe Cial Balkan Border watch commission. 30 years ago today. Oct. 10, 1957 president Eisen Hower announced that the United stale plans to Bunch a lightweight Pilai Sal ellitch into space in december and Bunch another in March thai would provide More scientific information than the so Viet s sputnik i 20 years ago . 10, 1967 the supreme court agreed to decide whether Federal courts could bar Mississippi from prosecuting civil rights demonstrators under a 1964 stale anti pickling Law. The Case involved inc Marrcil of about 60 demonstrators in Hattiesburg j 0 years ago today. Oct. 10, 1977 the soviet Union blasted two Rookie cosmonauts into space aboard a soyuz Capi ulc bound for a linkup with the new salyut 6 space station