European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday july 13, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 9 City of Kaiserslautern files 3rd suit seeking military housing plan delay by Deedee Arrington Dok Kaiserslautern Bureau Kaiserslautern construction of a . Military housing project appears headed for further Legal delays in controversy that already has spanned three years. The 400-unit housing project planned for a wooded area Between Vogel Weh and Kapaun air station has Bee funded for $25 million under the Mili tary construction program. But the project which has come under fire from Kaiserslautern City officials and Environ mental groups is the subject of three sep Arate Legal actions filed Over the last 18months. No construction has begun. The latest lawsuit filed by Kaiserslautern against the Federal Republic of Ger Many seeks to prohibit any construction on the housing project until the first two suits Are settled. The most recent round of litigation was initiated several weeks ago said Gerd Braun Kaiserslautern Slegal director. In the initial lawsuit filed i january 1987 by Kaiserslautern officials the City contended that the Federal government did not consult local officials before approving the . Project three years ago. The Federal government has countered by saying All Legal planning and publicity requirements were met. It was a big Surprise Braun said Inan interview with the stars and stripes. We got the information not from our German government not from the americans but from the  an administrative court in Koblen recently upheld a temporary injunction issued earlier by a lower court the subject of the City s second Legal action that prevents the Clearing of 18,000trees from the site chosen three years ago for the housing project. That court order Means the Trees cannot be Cut until the first lawsuit is resolved. Under the nato status of Force agreement the German government has sole responsibility for securing land or facilities needed by foreign forces. We regret the americans Are caught in the Middle Between two German governments Braun said. He emphasize that the City s disagreement was with the German government and not with . Military. It. Col. Edward Neunherz a spokes Man for the . Air Force in Europe said his command sees the litigation As a strictly internal German Legal mat Ter but is providing. All possible support to the Federal government. We Are faced with a critical housing shortage in the Kaiserslautern military is photo Steve Morrison a Jogger on monday makes his Way through the wooded area slated for a new military housing area delayed by lawsuits. Community we urgently require the housing units and we Welcome the German government s Pursuit of All available Lega remedies to break the deadlock Neunherz said in a written response to a query fro the stars and stripes. Despite 10 areas of government or government leased housing military personnel assigned to the Kaiserslautern Community May wait from six months to 2 /2 years to get quarters said David , housing director for the Kaiserslautern military Community. The Community the largest concentration of americans outside the United states includes Kaiserslautern lands Tull Ramstein a and Sembach a. Al though both air Force and army units Are assigned Kaiserslautern is an air Force Community with that service i charge of the housing program. As of april there were 5,898 family housing units leased or owned by the military. Anderson estimated that 800additional government housing units Are needed including the 400 proposed forthe Vogel Weh Kapaun area particularly More four and five bedroom apart ments. Maybe that would relieve the crisis for us or make it possible for families to not live in areas that Are kind of undesirable there s just not enough rentals on the Economy for the number of peo ple that Are Here Anderson said. In fact we think 400 or 500 of them reliving in quarters that really Don t meet department of defense  the project s proposed location in wooded area known As the Hohenecker Woods also has come under continuing criticism by local environmental groups including the greens political party since the project was first announced. Braun also questioned the site Choice. Why 400 units in one Forest where there Are 18,000 Trees perhaps 5,000 Are More than 150 years old and in this modern time. It is not responsible to Cut them Braun said. We have nothing against the plans to build the houses Braun continued. We think it is not necessary to build them  the courts also Are asking the West German government to prove that the inhabitants must be at this new location to serve the purpose of defense. Why this place and no other Braun  Force Brig. Gen. William Studer the Kaiserslautern Community com Mander met with City officials in april in a closed door session to discuss the controversy. The results of that meeting were not released. Studer responding to a query from the stars and stripes said that he told the officials of a definite requirement for additional government housing along with some of the reasons behind the need. Such As a current waiting list for government housing to taling Over 2,000 names the decline of the Dollar resulting in a higher Cost of living and safety  debates swirl around scene polluted father Rhine by Terrence Petty Koblenz West Germany a what we Haven the Rhine is a perpetual  the legend Ary picturesque and polluted Rhine River is what Ste fan Weber was talking about the River that winds gracefully past old castles quaint towns Green Vine Yards and waste spewing Industrial plants. There Are 169 tons of unnatural substances flowing into the River each hour from Switzerland alone said Weber a spokesman for the International environmental group Greenpeace. The River has been polluted for More than a Century but others less worried than Greenpeace say it s not All that bad now even though 30 tons of toxic chemical spilled into it a year and a half ago. Pollution in the Rhine has actually lessened Over the last several years because of new pollution controls said Karl Geert Malle head of environmental control at the giant base chemicals Plant in ludwigs Hafen. Herbert Knoepp president of the West German Institute for water Protection also says pollution in the Rhine has decreased. Certainly the Rhine is polluted and we have Man problems to solve. But this has to be looked at in a historical  a chemical disaster at the Sandoz Plant in Basel Switzerland in 1986 lulled hundreds of thousands of Rhine fish but Knoepp and other experts say the River s Quality is still vastly better than it was 15 years ago because of Wastewater treatment plants and new filtration procedures. The Rhine curls for 820 Miles past picturesque towns As Well As historic and important cities such As Strasbourg Mainz Koblenz Bonn Cologne and Rotterdam. The River which originates in the Swiss Alps an empties into the North sea also winds past Castle crowned hilltops and some of the most famous Vine Yards in West Germany. Each year millions of tourists ride on or along the River affectionately called father Rhine by Ger mans. The Rhine is also one of the world s most important transportation links connecting the Interior of West Ern Europe with the rest of the world. About 140 million tons of cargo Are transported along the lower Rhine each year said Knoepp whose Institute coordinates water Protection efforts by West Germany s 11 states. Along its Banks Are huge Industrial plants that employ hundreds of thousands of people in Switzerland France West Germany and the Netherlands. Base alone employs 50,000 people. Industry Long has been the source of the River s pol  Rhine s pollution dates Back to the 1870s, with the Start of Industry Knoepp said at his office i Koblenz. Before then the River s ecological system was almost totally  according to German records some key varieties of Rhine aquatic life such As crayfish insects and molluscs fell by 50 percent from 1900 to 1956. Once abundant Salmon disappeared by the Middle of this Century. The Rhine s pollution reached a deadly Climax on nov. 1, 1986, when the Accident at the Sandoz Plant sent 30 tons of Mercury and other toxic materials into the River