European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 22, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday june 22, 1338 the stars and stripes Paga 3 Light rainfall brings slight Relief by the associated press Brier showers brought scant Relief 10 tanners in inc parched Midwest As thermometers hit triple digits and a meteorologist said a Hurricane might be needed to end inc drought in the South East. On the Mississippi River barges recently freed after Days of dredging Low spots again raced backups As two Shal Low areas had to be cleared. Authorities expected the delay to last Days. In Dayton Ohio a Hay hot line was starting tuesday for Farmers seek ing fodder from As tar West As Kansas to feed their cattle in the face of the grass wilting drought. A monday evening storm in North Ern Illinois brought the first significant moisture to that area in 28 Days depos iting up to a half Inch of rain. Light rain also fell in Michigan and Indiana. Any bit of rain will help but in i not a cure All said Rich Brumer. A National weather service meteorologist in Illinois. We need to have something like this every three Days for the next month before we can say the drought is  More than three dozen record High temperatures were reported monday mostly across the dry Midwest anymore of inc same was predicted tues Day. A meteorologist said monday a Hurricane might be the Only thing that could snap the dry spell in the South East. Of course we Don t want to Sec any hurricanes said Paul pct lit a weather service forecaster in Montgomery Ala. But the Hurricane and inc tropical activity May be the answer to the Long term Lack of rainfall and water replenishment that we re probably going to  Mississippi River barges freed last weekend from Sandbar tie  to the North and South of Memphis tenn., again faced an obstacle the coast guard said monday. A 1,000-foot-Long Section of inc Mississippi six Miles North of Memphis has shrunk from 500 feet wide and i5 feet deep to 170 feet wide and nine feet deep due to the drought said cmdr. Michael Donohou of coast guard Headquarters in Memphis. Undoubtedly Iacre will be a Back log Here. We could probably have be tween 800 and 1,200 barges arriving at Memphis Over the next 24 1o 48 hours he said  dredge was scheduled to arrive tuesday to begin scooping out the Tow spot. Donohoe said the River Likely would be closed during the dredging which could take two Days or More. Near Gunnison miss., a Barge ran aground Early monday in shallow water. Engineers said it could Lake three Days to dredge a deeper Channel  record Low water also is creating huge sandbars that Are drawing spectators dangerously close to the swirling Mississippi. Three people drowned sunday near Natchez miss., when a Sandbar they were walking on fell apart officials  water and the heal also Are being blamed for an extensive fish kill on the Lalle River a Nebraska game and Parks official  no end in sight for the farm Belt drought Grain and soybean futures prices spurted sharply Feher monday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Except for wheat which is mostly harvested in Winter All Grain and soy bean futures on the Market shot up by their daily allowable limits at the open ing Bell and did t Budge All Day. Wheat futures arc at their highest level in nearly seven years. Com futures Are at four year highs. The Montana agricultural statistics service reported monday that 71 per cent of Montana s Spring wheat crop is in poor or very poor condition compared with 62 percent a week ago. In Texas stale agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower described the situation As an emergency. We need to be treating it As an emergency rather than just appointing task forces up in Washington d.c., to decide whether it s dry or not High Tower said. We need to be responding immediately with tools that already Are in the hands of the . Secretary of  new Orleans . Agriculture Secretary Richard e. Lyng wanted that the withering crops could mean disaster for Farmers and spiralling costs for  said the worst threat is in the Mideast s com Belt but problems Are looming for Southern soybean growers. Corn is the most important crop inthe United states. Soybeans is second Lyng said. If those Are lost who can say what it will mean it s never happened  level of drought in the . Drought hiking prices of Corn soybeans Des Moines Iowa a the drought is driving up Corn and soybean prices but some Farmers arc reluctant to sell their stored Grain despite the huge profits they could make. Soybean prices hit an 11-Ycar High of $10 a Bushel monday on the Chicago Board of Trade. Every Day without rain could trans late into More profit for Farmers Choos ing to sit Light. Yet they Are in a quandary should they sell now and Hope for a Bountiful Harvest that will replenish storage or should they hang on to what they have and risk losing Money once it Rains an prices plummet i think there s Quile a. Few Farmers just waiting for prices to go higher. My father in Law told me Over the weekend that he sold his Beans a month ago and look what he could have gotten now said Susan Anderson a spokeswoman for the Iowa farm Bureau. She also said she knows of a Man who has enough soybeans to cover this year s crop loss. He said it did t matter if he got a crop this year with the Way prices arc going Anderson said. "1 Don t know when is a Good Lime to unload storage. Everybody is scared to death said Kurt Lehman who with his father Dean farms near Alleman. If Beans gel up to $11, $12, $13 a Bushel. At that Point you Start Selling and take your chances whether you get a crop or not he said. If it starts raining prices will drop and there s the potential to lose profits. It s a nerve racking game. You re Gam bling on the weather Lehman  now i could get a darn Good profit if i wanted to  Farmers arc guaranteed a Federal loan Price for inc inborn mid soybeans. In pre Vious Yean when Market prices were significantly lower Many chose to Lake the Federal payment and forfeit their crop said Jerry Perkins spokesman for the Iowa com growers association. If the government loan Rale was higher than the Cash Price the government would hold the Grain As collateral. The Farmer takes the government Money go soul and spends it and says of govern ment keep the Grain " Perkins said. This year though Cash prices Are going High enough. So if the Cash prices above the loan rate the Farmer says of government sell my Corn Lake my loan rate and interest out and give me what s left Over " he said. 229 Sites qualify for toxic cleanup funds Washington a the envy ran mental Protection Agency tuesday proposed to add 229 Sites to the super fund priority list for toxic Wasle clean  and to drop 30. Designation for the National priority list Means the site is eligible for 90 percent Federal financing of the cleanup under Epa s supervision unless a Feder Al Agency owns it. Federal agencies Are responsible for cleaning up their Sites with their own Money. The action brings the priority list to 1,177 Sites of which 378 Are still proposals and 799 have been formally designated for the list. Eventually the Agency has said the list could grow to about 2,500 Sites. Fourteen of tuesday s new Sites Are owned by other Federal agencies. 12 of them either related to nuclear weapons manufacture or a military base. Last week the Epa announced agreement with the defense department on penal tics to be imposed if the department fails to live up to cleanup agreements. The 30 Sites being proposed for Dele Tion have not been cleaned up but they do not satisfy any of the criteria for listing the Epa said they will be cleaned up under other programs the Agency said. Three other Sites were deleted from the list in april on inc grounds that All work had been completed or that they posed no real the Epa said. Six environmental organizations and a Trade association told a House subcommittee monday that the superfund pro Gram has ignored 1986 congressional amendments directing the Epa to use relevant and appropriate pollution standards contained in other Laws Suchias the Safe drinking water act in set Ting cleanup goals. The Epa uses confusing risk assess ments that leave varying amounts of contaminants in the ground according to a report from the hazardous waste treatment Council a Trade association and the Sierra club the National Audubon society the natural resources de sense Council the National wildlife federation the environmental defense fund and the . Public interest re search . Winston Porter assistant Epa administrator in charge of superfund Toldie investigations subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce commit tee that different residual contamination does t necessarily mean cleanups fail to protect health and the environment. Different exposures and resources at risk might Well justify different cleanup Levels he said