European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Inside stripes Boston s Mcnamara gets the a Page 21 the stars and tripes a authorized unofficial publication for the . Armed forces vol. 47, no. 89 saturday july 16, 1988 Good morning if if 5i daily and sunday d 8693 a High Levels of radon found at 1 2 of bases in Europe by William j. Bartma Washington Bureau Washington higher than acceptable Levels of cancer causing radon Gas have been found in 12 air Force installations in Europe with the most serious problems surfacing at Aviano a Italy. Tests of air Force bases worldwide showed a total of 17 installations with radon Levels above recommended safety standards. Locations on Aviano and a Dena a Japan had More than 20 Pico curies of radon per liter of air an amount at which the environmental Protection Agency Calls for Quick action. The level first signifying danger is four Pic curies per liter of air. Radon is a naturally occurring odor less colourless radioactive Gas produced by decaying uranium in the soil. Re search has shown that extended exposure to elevated Levels of radon increases the risk of developing lung cancer. The 15 other overseas bases that had Levels Between four and 20 Pic curies per liter included Rhein main a Wei Brincken a Sembach a and the Wiesbaden air Force regional medical Center in West Germany. Also on the list were Torrejon a Spain Ankara air station Turkey Raf Greenham common Raf High by Combe housing Raf upper Heyford m the United kingdom san Vito a Italy Lajes Field azores Yokota a Japan Osan a and Suwon a South Korea and Howard a Panama. A Safe spokesman said the Hospital at Wiesbaden was not one of the structures showing above Standard radon Levels. In the Wake of the test results Aviano and Kadena will undergo a detailed 30-Day sampling plus an additional one year sampling. The other 15 installations will undergo a detailed one year sampling. At Aviano civil and environmental see radon on Back Page president Reagan talks with Farmer Herman Krone right and his son Rick of do Quoin Iii. Reagan Calls for drought Bill after visit to stricken Midwest Washington up president Reagan haying walked through Sun list Crew Fields with Illi Nois Farmers says he s ready to sign drought Relief legislation and Congress has taken the first step to Send it to him. One Day after being confronted with dozens of amendments threatening to slow the process the House and Senate agriculture committees pushed through them thursday and wound up with Bills very similar to the Core legislation filed earlier this week. The Senate panel sent its Bill to the floor for debate and the House panel gave tentative approval and agreed to meet again july 26. Reagan toured Illinois and Iowa by plane thurs Day and called for speedy action to help drought Sancken Farmers who face the worst natural disaster since the dust bowl of the 1930s." " lawmakers know there s a time pressure on it the president said in a broadcast interview in Davenport Iowa. I think it s ready to go through and of course i la sign it the minute it s delivered to  the trip marked the first time Reagan publicly specified what he wants in drought legislation. He already has Given his approval of the $5.5 billion Effort worked out in bipartisan discussions Between see drought on Back Page Dod budget Bill includes hike in quarters pay by Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington in addition to a 4.1 percent pay raise military members will receive an average 7 per cent pay hike in quarters allowance under the defense authorization Bill approved by Congress this week. Also included in the $300 billion Bill sent for presi Dent Reagan s signature Are increased household goods weight allowances and bigger bonuses for some aviators and medical officers. The House passed the Bill Early thursday 229-183, while the Senate approved i later 64-30. The Bill limits raises for defense department civil Ian personnel to 2 percent the same Given to All Federal  pay raises still Are Uncertain since lawmakers have yet to pass a defense appropriations Bill which actually funds the programs in the defense authorization legislation and also must be signed by Reagan. But defense officials Are hopeful that servicemen Bers will get the 4.1 percent hike because it Falls be tween the two pay figures to be discussed in the up coming House Senate appropriations  officials especially Are pleased about the decoupling of housing allowances from Basic pay in the authorization Bill. Over the past few years Congress has authorized the same annual increases for both base pay and quarters allowances even As spiralling housing costs have Cut into service members earnings. Quarters allowance is meant to cover 65 percent of the National median housing costs paid by service members. Currently they re reimbursed an average 59 percent of those  7 percent raise will bring that up to Between 60 percent and 61 percent. It s not a significant boost but it s better than nothing the official said. One Good thing is that we also got some flexibility to target the raise by rank Sowe can even out the Burden for  for example there no longer will be a situation where a private is covered for 65 percent of the nation Al median housing Cost and a colonel is covered for Only 50 percent she said. Increases for various grades can t be calculated yet because the Pentagon still is in the process of analysing data from the latest housing costs Survey used to set allowance rates. Other significant personnel related items in the authorization Bill include officer cuts. Congress repealed further officer cuts see pay on Back Page