European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 a the stars and stripes monday june 10, 1991 by Mike Carter the associated press Salt Lake City biological weapons testing at a . Army depot will be postponed until a Salt Lake City Hospital staff is trained to handle a possible Accident the army announced. Tests were scheduled to begin monday at Dugway proving ground said col. Frank Cox commanding officer at Dugway. The tests were postponed because a piece of equipment malfunctioned Cox said Friday. He also acknowledged that the army had not lived up to its agreement with University Hospital to train its personnel in Case of an Accident. The army he said a has some egg on our face.�?�. A we should have conducted the training and we did no to he said. Or. Zell Mckee a specialist in infectious disease at the University of Utah school of Medicine said the army has yet to provide the Hospital with antidotes to toxins it plans to use in the development of defensive biological weapons. The Hospital contracted in january 1990 to treat possible victims of biological and chemical operations. Tests were scheduled to begin monday at the desert depot 70 Miles Southwest of Salt Lake City of a a relatively harmless Strain of a Pathogen called Persinia pcs Hiscox said. Mckee a longtime opponent of biological weapons development and testing scoffed at the army a characterization of the organism As harmless. Though the United states has accepted a 1972 treaty Banning the use and Possession of biological agents and toxins the army uses the 840,000-acre depot to test defences against chemical and biological warfare. 4 in in r t % v i in c v. 4 j Jet to Quot so v Everett Henley of Houston checks on his grease recycling operation. A thieves getting fat Houston a the fat sizzling on the Grill of the local Burger joint is Gravy for Fec Clefs who purify it and use the Slimy stuff in livestock feed cosmetics and plastics. But grease is also Gold to a network of thieves and fences who have turned Houston into fat City. Thieves haunting Houston a 30,000 restaurants sneak up to legitimate grease recycling bins and vacuum or scoop out Gallons of leftover hamburger fat French Fry drippings and Fried Chicken grease. Its sold to a grease fences a who then sell it to unwitting legitimate companies. Police say at least one professional grease robber made $60, one year. A we kind of laughed about it at first but its no joke a said Houston police sgt. Danny Spurlock. Used restaurant grease can be Worth a Fortune. Its even traded on the Chicago commodity Exchange. Two legitimate companies Griffin industries inc. And Wommack grease services inc., set up huge bins behind restaurants. The companies pay the restaurants Between 4 cents and 7 cents a Pound to take it away and refine it into a product Worth Between 10 and 16 cents a Pound. The Low Price per Pound Cash payments and relatively Low criminal risk attract thieves and turns it into a Sticky business Spurlock says. A each time they get caught its a class b Misdemeanour because its usually less. Than $200 Worth a Spurlock said. Thieves can to be charged with a felony until they be had three Misdemeanour convictions he said a and before that happens they turn it Over to a Cousin to Start  six Misdemeanour cases Are pending in Houston courts said assistant District attorney Vanessa Velasquez More than anywhere else in Texas. Griffin industries John Hofstedt declined to be interviewed saying Media coverage of the profitable thefts is in. Courage my would be robbers. But he has said Griffin a bins in Southeastern Texas Are hit hundreds of times a month and estimates his losses at $30,000 a month. A they get a slap on the wrist spend one night in jail and have to get their truck out of impoundment the next Day a he told the Houston business journal. A they have no Cost of buying the grease no Workman a compensation no insurance. 1 reckon they look at going to jail every now and then As a Cost of doing  police prosecutors and a Harris county grand jury Are keeping an Eye on Independent grease merchant Everett Henley a former Houston police officer appealing one conviction for a. Hepting stolen grease. Spurlock says Henley is the City a leading a a Fence for stolen grease with an army of illegal immigrants scouring Griffin a and Wommack a bins. But Henley who left the police Force to take Oyer his father in Laws grease business says Griffin and Wommack Are working with the police to run him out of business. He says his Drivers Are followed by police who then impound the trucks overnight and release them in the morning just to harass him. Because of the allegations against him he keeps detailed records of every. Ounce of grease he accepts All with the notation a not  his wife Joann Henley said they accept grease Only from state licensed Drivers. A a. Jon Jaworski an attorney who represents so Many accused grease robbers acknowledges grease theft exists but says it occurs far less than Griffin and Wommack officials Lead police to be Lieve. Jaworski says restaurants Are partly to blame because employees Are greasing their own Palms and then blaming Henley screws that pick up the fat for legitimate Sale. A a they la sell grease to anyone who knocks on the door. They pocket the Cash and then when Griffin or Wom Mack show up  say a gee it must have been stolen a a a Jaworski says. A a it a Only $20 or so a he said a but it adds up to lunch  in by Arnold ii. Lubasch the new York times a Brooklyn jury has found trans world airlines guilty of wilful misconduct for failing to take adequate precautions to prevent a bomb explosion on a jetliner near Athens.  years ago. The jury s verdict delivered thursday in the second phase of a civil trial continued the jury s earlier award of $2.s million to the family of a passenger who was killed and $250, to a passenger who was injured As a re syst of the mid air explosion. If the jury had not found wilful misconduct the awards would have been reduced to $75,000. An International airline convention limits damages to $75,000, except in cases of Wil tul misconduct a form of negligence. The civil trial conducted by judge Jack b. Weinstein in . District court in Brooklyn was closed to the Public and to news organizations during testimony about secret airline Security procedures. At first Weinstein granted the Federal governments request to close the courtroom for the entire liability phase of the trial. But after hearing arguments by a lawyer for the new York times the judge agreed to limit the closing to testimony that could jeopardize airline safety. Quot the Case concerned an explosion aboard a Twa flight approaching Athens on april 2, 19s6. A woman was  placing the bomb on the plane for a terrorist group. Four passengers were killed and several were injured but the plane landed safely. The plaintiffs in the Case were Mohsen Youssuf Airliner bombing m injured passenger and the wife and children of Alberto Ospina a passenger who was killed. Most of the other cases stemming from the explosion were settled without trials. A a lawyer Tor the Ospina family Frederic Lewis said the verdict would make airlines More careful particularly in areas where terrorists Are known to operate. He had told the jury that Twa personnel had allowed a woman to boat in Cairo Egypt without proper Security procedures even though she met a profile Tor suspicious passengers. A lawyer. John romans said he would consult with his client on whether to Appeal the verdict. Romans told the jury that i was met or exceeded very single government Standard applicable to this