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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 9, 1987)
Inside The Battalion Vol. 82 No. 175 CISPS 045360 8 pages l g "some ie PrelimiiB nerican College Station, Texas Thursday, July 9,1987 orth says he misled Congress about role $5 s saying, It 5 English, WASHINGTON (AP) — Oliver his own,” North said. “I thought I sheetsoi : North admitted Wednesday that he had approval for everything I did.” t close to had made “erroneous, misleading, His contention that members of having ii, evasive and wrong” statements to congressional intelligence commit- rds. Congress to cover his role in helping tees could not be trusted with secrets n for thti, Nicaraguan rebels while U.S. aid was d. “Forth,- s forbidden by law. fheyordt “It was not right, it does not leave me with a good taste in my mouth,” North, a Marine lieutenant colonel, told the joint House-Senate Iran- Contra committees. “I want you to know that lying does not come easy to me.” ne to use those thii 'ork for e cover i ested in so of them; Vhite Hi), tzwater cinds of hat they or even > had wo between He said his choice was between |ies and lives. However, he conceded nder questioning from the commit- ee’s counsel that Nicaragua’s Sandi- lista government was aware of the Contra-supply operation when he as misleading Congress in a brief- ng last summer. In an emotional finale to an argu- lent-filled second day of testimony, orth said tens of thousands of peo- le have written to him applauding is pivotal role in diverting profits rom Iranian arms sales to help the rebels fighting the Nicaraguan gov ernment. “I’ve made judgment errors,” he said. “But I tried and I don’t regret having done it.” He also refused to shoulder the drew a sharp rebuke from Senate committee chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii. He said no secrets had ever leaked from the Senate intelligence com mittee during the eight years he served on it, and he added, “Most of the leaks in this city come from the other side of Pennsylvania (Ave nue).” That’s where the White House is. :ulturalj entire blame. it memh y in allol in Punjal the lues; i of kilim; ■n hijack killed and declt' for ii “This Marine lieutenant colonel was not making those decisions on North’s face reddened as John Nields, who conducted the televised questioning for the investigating committees, ticked off a summary of events North had testified about: “You and others put out a false version of facts relating to 1985 Hawk (missile) shipments. You al tered documents in official NSC files. You shredded documents shortly after you heard representa tives of the attorney general of the United States were coming into your office to review them. You wrote false and misleading letters to the Congress of the United States. . . . You received personal financial ben efits, you were operating with covert funds without knowing where they came from ... $8 million in operat ing funds were handled in a manner where you didn’t know what hap pened.” The reference to personal finan cial benefits brought a pained ex pression to North’s face. Nields ex plained his reference was to a $13,900 home security system in stalled in North’s home, the subject of lengthy testimony earlier in the day. North testified that he made “the grossest misjudgment” of his life in creating phony letters to conceal that he hadn’t paid for the system but said his family had to have it because of death threats from the world’s best-known terrorist. “That was the first time in my life that I accepted something that I hadn’t paid for,” the Marine officer said. After threats from terrorist Abu Nidal, he said, he accepted the $13,900 security system, which other testimony has shown was paid for by his main Iran-Contra operative, re tired Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord. “This lieutenant colonel was not offered at that time any protection by the government of the United States,” North said. He said he was told all that could be done for him was a transfer to Camp Lejeune, N.C. Looking straight at the array of senators and congressmen in front of him, North urged them to change the law to make such protection pos sible for others in his situation. How Shocking! One of the cows in a pasture on Texas A&M’s property near the Swine Farm does not seem to be Photo by Robert W. Rizzo afraid of the electrical fence, but appears ready to try something new for lunch. Salvadoran police shoot into crowd; 22 injured laughter to Punjal he inhun e outre* 3S iio Id have ? i becaust SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AF) — Anti-riot police shot at strik ing Social Security workers trying to force their way into a government building Wednesday, and at least 22 people — including two journalists were injured, witnesses said. The shooting occurred at the So cial Security Institute in the capital. Journalists said they counted at least 22 people either wounded by police gunfire or seriously hurt from being beaten. Police officers were also injured when strikers beat them j with clubs, police officials said. The National Workers’ Union, [ which is backing the strikers, said I through a spokesman that 15 strik ers suffered bullet wounds and 50 received minor injuries, mainly from riot police truncheons. The press office of the Salvadoran military, of which the police are a | branch, said in a statement that the workers “ran at the police officers, | hitting them clubs with spikes in them.” It said “shots were heard” and that the officers then went into the crowd looking for the source of the shots. A reporter for a private Salvado ran television station said Hector Sa lazar, a cameraman, and Ricardo Sanchez, a sound equipment opera tor, were among those wounded by police bullets. Both were covering the strikers’ demonstration. The re porter spoke on condition of ano nymity. Police Lt. Salvador Arias Ramos, head of one of the riot squads on the scene, said one police officer and seven of his men were injured by club blows from the strikers. The military press office said two po licemen were wounded by bullets, but did not say how. Eladio Cordova, a leader of the 5,000-strong Social Security Work ers’ Union, said he knew of eight workers being wounded by bullets, and that four members of the union leadership were injured when “they were beaten with rifle butts.” “I saw three policemen beaten up but no one (policemen) was suffer ing from bullet wounds,” another journalist who witnessed the riot said. “The striking workers were not armed.” The journalist, who also asked not to be identified, said about 200 po lice and security agents barred the way into the building when about 120 strikers, who had been demon strating in the streets earlier, tried to force their way inside. He and other colleagues said the riot began when policemen cornered one of the strikers and started beat ing and kicking him. He said a of fellow workers rushed over to help him. “Then suddenly shots were heard and we all hit the ground,” he said. “Everything stopped and for a mo ment many worxers started walking forward with their hands raised and the policemen fired once again.” The Social Security Institute pro vides health care for low-wage earn ers and the poor throughout the country. Its 5,000 workers went out on strike 38 days ago to demand wage increases and more fringe ben efits. House will subpoena 3 federal prosecutors WASHINGTON (AP) — A House subcommit tee voted Wednesday to subpoena three Miami- based federal prosecutors, in a so-far mainly se cret investigation into whether Reagan adminis tration officials supported illegal drug and gun smuggling to benefit the Nicaraguan Contras. Attorney General Edwin Meese III has re fused to allow the prosecutors to be questioned by subcommittee investigators in a year-long in vestigation by the panel of alleged drug-smug gling, gun-running amd money laundering by and for the Nicaraguan rebels. “We’re looking specifically at some alleged wrongdoing on the part of the Department of Justice,” subcommittee chairman William Hughes, D-N.J., told the panel. “. . . We have no other recourse at this point but to subpoena the witnesses or walk away from our constitutional responsibilities.” Another subcommittee member, Rep. Law rence J. Smith, D-Fla., said: “We are investigating the possibility that the Justice Department im peded a criminal investigation.” The vote by the Judiciary Committee’s crime subcommittee split along party lines. Republicans opposed the subpoenas on the grounds the ac tion would interfere with the work of the House and Senate Iran-Contra committees. But Democrats, prevailing 6-4, voted to com pel testimony by assistant U.S. attornevs Jeffrev Feldman, David Leiwant and Lawrence Sharf. All three prosecutors are assigned to the Miami- based Southern District of Florida. Hughes said the prosecutors would be asked about allegations that top Justice Department of ficials — possibly acting on White House orders — put an end to a 1985 gun-running investiga tion. P r ilk uncovered evidence that weapons were illegally shipped from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Contra bases in Central America. He said Feldman recommended con vening a grand jury in the case last year, a recom mendation he later withdrew. 'S tiof auto"; ompa"; >nded Diving. inju^ ma n , . fo' 3rg anlZ 't Jd-A' r to / reat it ) they 5 ' dng^ 1 Raiders take 3 Americans in Sudan NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Su danese rebels abducted three American and one British Chris tian aid worker from their homes in southern Sudan during an early morning raid, officials said Wednesday. “The armed men identified themselves as members of the SPLA, the Sudanese People’s Lib eration Army,” said Dan Bitrus, executive director of the Nairobi- based Association of Christian Resource Organizatins Serving Sudan. Bitrus said the four were kid napped between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. Tuesday in Mundri, about 738 miles southwest of Khar toum. “We do not know where they were taken to; neither have we re ceived any information as to their whereabouts,” Bitrus said. Three of the victims, two American teachers and one Brit ish nurse, worked under the aus pices of ACROSS, a relief, reha bilitation and development consortium of Christian missions that has been working in Sudan since 1972, Bitrus said. He identified them as Steve Anderson, born in Minneapolis, Minn.; Katherine Taylor, 32, born in Johnson City, Tenn. ; and 29-year-old British nurse Heat her Sinclair. Bitrus identified the fourth vic tim as Mark Nikkei, an American Episcopal priest not associated with the relief organization. Bryan Council members face problems with clay structure in proposed landfill By Yvonne DeGraw Staff Writer Geology. We walk on concrete-covered ground, rarely considering what lies just under the surface. And what happens a mere five or more feet be low that almost never crosses our minds. A 236-acre site proposed for a new Bryan landfill has been chal- Geology of landfills Part two of a three-part series lenged at several levels — the his toric importance of Old San Antonio Road which was blazed in 1691, the short distance to Bryan Utilities Lake and the possible desecration of a cemetery for blacks on the sitev But when state agencies look at a permit application for a landfill, ge ology is the most important factor in the approval process. The Bryan City Council approved a purchase option on the lot on the southeast corner of Old San Antonio and Sandy Point roads. The option gives them 18 months to decide whether or not to buy the lot. The most frightening accusation that has been leveled is that a dump ing ground on that site would con taminate the water supplies of Col lege Station, Texas A&M and Bryan. Opponents to the site say even the Brazos River would be polluted. A preliminary study of the site has been conducted by HDR Techserv of Dallas. It has taken four soil sam ples and currently is working on a sampling plan for submission to the Texas Department of Solid Waste Management, says Marvin Nor wood, deputy city manager. Employees at HDR Techserv re fused to comment on the study while the department manager is out of town. The concerns about the site make it important to understand a little about state regulations and the geol ogy of the area. Texas regulations require a three- to four-foot thick liner of “imper meable” clay underneath the land fill, according to T.A. Outlaw, chief of the permits and programs branch of the Department of Solid Waste Management. Because clay strata often has frac tures, recompacted clays are used to patch holes in the layer. Whether it is native or recom pacted clay, state law requires that the clay be able to prevent water from percolating through it any fas ter than 10~ 7 centimeters per second, or 1.24 inches per year. George King, senior geologist in the permits processing branch of the solid waste management depart ment, says at this rate a standard liner would not leak for more than 30 years. However, a nationally recognized expert on landfills says the rate of leakage can increase by a factor of 100 in the field. “I’ve done studies on recom pacted clay and you cannot make it impermeable,” says Dr. Kirk Brown, professor of soil and crops sciences at Texas A&M. He says recompacted clays that test at 10 -7 cm/sec in the lab could leak as fast as 10“ 5 cm/sec in the field. This difference changes a 90-gallon- er-acre-per-day leakage rate to a ,000 gallon/acre/day rate, he says. “You will be leaking 100 times fas ter than the state thinks you are leak ing,” he warns. “They (state agen cies) base it all on laboratory tests which don’t simulate what happens in the field.” King agrees that percolation rates are almost always faster in the field, but he says his department does do some tests on-site. Even after a land fill is licensed, he says, the city has to give core borings from each new trench to the Department of Solid Waste Management to be tested. Another state requirement is that water wells within 500 feet of the solid waste must be protected from contamination by clay barriers. There are no large wells this close to the site, but all the major water wells in the B-CS area are within five miles of it. College Station currently has three wells less than a mile northeast. Texas A&M has seven wells one to two miles southwest of the site. The suitability of the landfill site will be determined in part by whether there is interaction oetween water near the surface and water 3,000 to 4,000 feet down — where the large well intakes are located. If there is, rainwater could carry toxins into the public water supply. LaDona Hudson owns a 60-acre lot on the other side of a College Sta tion well from the proposed site. The well pumps up to 11 million gal lons of water per day from the Car- rizo-Willcox Aquifer, she says. Her 400-foot-deep well is sensitive to changes in water pressure pro duced by the 3500-foot-deep munic ipal well. “My water spits and hisses and has gases in it when those huge pipes are pumping,” she says. This indicates interaction between deeper waters, but locals say gravel beds outcrop throughout the area. Michael Williams has dug several stock tanks in the area of the site. He says he has hit gravel on properties adjacent to the site on the southeast and the south. He found water-carrying sand 12 to 14 feet below the surface while digging a tank just south of the pro posed landfill. “We go swimming in it all the time,” he says. “The water’s real high out here. I can understand looking for a place but I think this is the wrong site.” Inez Higgs Luther says her sister’s land, which is across Sandy Point Road from the site, has lots of gravel on the surface. Don Angonia, current owner of the land, had no comment on the soil in the area. Gifford-Hill & Company digs gravel from large pits 400 yards from the site, Hudson says. “It doesn’t seem right to me that God in his infinite wisdom stopped the gravel at the OSR when he was laying things out,” she says. But soil strata are twisted things. No one will know whether the site has enough clay until tests are done. Outlaw says gravel beds on nearby sites do not mean the landfill site has gravel near the surface. “Soils can change very rapidly,” he says. “I’d have to wait for the facts before I can say anything.” And that is what city officials in Bryan are doing at this point. Norwood says all the city has done is insure that the land will be avail able if studies show it is suitable. “It would not be a good use of the taxpayers’ money to spend $100,000 on the permitting process . . . and at the last minute have the landowner say, ‘Nah, I don’t think I want to sell it,’ ” he says. Almost any site gives landfill plan ners some problems, but Outlaw says there is a lot of rearranging involved in building a dumpsite. “You can engineer around almost anything if you’re willing to spend the money,” he says. Councilman Hank McQuaide says he is willing to spend the money to make a safe landfill. “I would like to see a site that’s completely buffered the way you never saw a landfill,” he says. If the site is approved, several as pects of the land are likely to need work. Three streams drain the plot, in cluding one that carries four feet of water after rains, Hudson says. These would have to be diverted around the landfill. Old wells that dot the property would provide a conduit to the aquifer unless they are blocked, she says. Also, because the lot slopes up ward to about 30 feet above the level of the OSR, McQuaide expects that hummocks will need to be placed along the road to disguise the fill.