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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1984)
Page 4/The Battalion/Wednesday, January 11, High Plains farmers to face bad harvests with decision United Press International LUBBOCK — High Plains farmers, hurt by recent bad- crop years, face a critical deci sion as they consider whether to participate in the 1984 farm program, said Texas Agricultu- ral Extension Service spokesmen. Grain marketing economist Ed Smith of College Station said Tuesday he believed more far mers would participate in the program than some people have predicted. Management eco nomist Kenneth Stokes of a Dal- las-area research office agreed. But both said the total partici- Casa Chapultepec 1315 S. College & Coulter 775-6052 This Week’s supper special: Beef Enchiladas, Bice and Beans $3.45 Saturday Speeial-Huevos Rancheros $2.45 from 7:00arn- 12:00pm Open Mon-Fri 10am-2pm 5pm-9pm Sat. 7am-9pm Reopen Nites ll:30-2:30am Sun 7am-2pm pation in the 1984 farm prog ram would be less than the 1983 participation levels. They visited with West Texas reporters as part of a statewide effort by the extension service to distribute information. “The decision on this farm program may be a life or death matter,” for some farmers, Smith said, urging producers to consider the merits of the prog ram based upon their individual farming needs. He said general public opin ion was that the upcoming farm program was bad because it did not offer as many incentives as last year’s program, which in cluded the Payment-In-Kind program. PIK payments are to be con tinued only on wheal during the upcoming crop year. Extensionservice calculations indicate that it would be to the advantage of theverage High Plains farmer to participate in the 1984 program. Smith said, urging producers to attend a Jan. 24 seminar in Lubbock on the farm program. “This area’s hurting,” Stokes said of producers whose cotton fields have been pounded by hail and thunderstorms for the past few years. “This area needs a little more flexibility” in farm program rules, he said. The 1984 cotton acreage re duction program has been criti cized by High Plains farm groups because it eliminated a previous option farmers had allowing them to withdraw from the program by July 15 based upon weather factors. Valley citrus workers get more food stamps United Press International AUSTIN — Citrus workers in the Rio Grande Valley, knocked out of a job because of crop-destroying freeze in December, will receive addi tional food stamp allotments, the state welfare chief said Tuesday. Marlin W. Johnston, com missioner of the Texas De partment of Human Re sources, said a mass feeding facility has been established in San Juan to provide one hot meal per day. As many as 20,000 people, most of them poor Mexican- American field hands and packing shed workers, lost their jobs because of the freez ing weather that destroyed cit rus crops and shut down juice plants in South Texas. Johnston announced that the U.S. Department of Agri culture has ordered a waiver of some eligibility rules that will permit many victims of the freeze to receive addition al food stamps. The principal beneficiaries of the rules waiver, he said, will be citrus workers who were already enrolled in the food stamp program. Families who already had their food stamp allotments determined for January may reapply at food stamp offices for additional benefits under the rule waiver, Johnston said. The relaxed eligibility rules will apply to residents of Hidalgo, Willacy, Starr and Cameron counties, which were declared disaster areas by President Reagan. Gov. Mark White requesiei the declaration because 17. degree temperatures ruined the orange and grapefruit crop, destroyed much of tht winter vegetable crop and sugar cane crops, and froze thousands of fish along the Gulf coast. Johnston said his agencyit looking for additional sites in the Valley to establish feedinc areas to dispense the food being trucked in by the Texas National Guard from govern ment warehouses in San Antonio. The Guard has already transported 312 cases of egj mix, 500 cases of grapefrjuice, 50 bags of dried milk, 273 cases of pru nes and 80 casesot raisins, he said. Ex-EPA worker testifies against burning of toxic wastes in Gulf ul ^ SSfs , •' 7\,' ’' United Press International HARLINGEN — An En vironmental Protection Agency “whistle-blower,” shunned by his cohorts at a scientific debate Tuesday, said he has reserva tions about the EPA’s tentative approval of the burning of high ly toxic chemical wastes in the Gulf of Mexico. Hugh Kaufman, assistant to the director of the EPA’s hazar dous sight control division, made a surprise appearance on a panel arranged by the' Gulf Coast Coalition for Public Health, an environmental group opposing the ocean in cineration permits. Kaufman went to Congress with allegations about Rita Lavelle, who was sentenced Monday to six months in jail for perjuring herself before Con gress, and his statements Tues day strongly supported environ mentalists’ claims that the EPA has been trying to ramrod through the offshore burning of toxic wastes without sufficient safeguards. The EPA already has given tentative approval for Chemical Waste Management, Inc., to burn 300,000 metric tons of * IS THE IDEA or WEARING jf A UNIFORM KEEPING YOU OUT OF THE CORPS? * * Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Whether you reallxe it or not, you’re probably wearing a typo of ’’uniform” right now. There’s nothing wrong with it. But an Aggie Corps uniform could make you stand ou t from the crowd. Try on the Corps uniform and try out Army ROTC. Take the opportunity to apply for a two or three year ROTC scholarship. Take the opportunity to both finance and enrich your education. FOR DETAILS CONTACT: MAJOR MICHAEL R.HARDIN 845-2814 or 845-1022 IT*S NOT TOO LATE JOIN THE CORPS NOW! polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other highly toxic substances in two Vulcanus in cinerations ships 150 miles off the Texas Coast. Public comment on the prop osal ends Jan. 31, after which Jack Ravan, head of the EPA’s water division, will make a final decision. Ravan sat in on Tues day’s debate, but did not speak. The ocean incineration pro ject was begun during the te nure of Lavelle and former EPA administrator Anne Gorsuch Burford. Kaufman maintained Tues day, in response to questions, that the EPA has “waived” strict standards applied to land-based incineration projects, has not considered what measures could be taken in the event of a catasto- phy on one of the incineration ships, and that there are legal questions whether Chemical Waste Management’s required $150 million insurance coverage would be sufficient in the event of a spill. The EPA, which supplied sci entists for panels discussing the pros and cons of the ocean in cineration project, refused to seat a panel opposite the one Kaufman sat on because a spokesman said the discussion dealt with “policy issues and not science.” Kaufman said he was appear ing as a “private citizen” without taking sides on the issue of the proposal which has drawn he ated resistance in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. But then he pro ceeded to describe — in careful ly worded terms — his views on methods used by the EPA to ward approving the necessary permits. Kaufman helped start the EPA’s waste dispoal program in the early 1970s, worked in the controversial Super fund cleanup program, and served five years as the chief investiga tor of hazardous waste sites. He said under the London Dumping Convention, of which EPA is a member, that an over riding need for ocean incinera tion must be demonstrated but, “I have not seen any detailed technical data showing that need.” Discussing “risks and be nefits,” Kaufman said, “In this case I believe anybody who has done a risk assessment will con clude there are risks.” “The benefit,” he said,‘iii quarter billion dollars ofrt venue for Chemical WasteMai> agement.” He added that noonehasaj; accurate data on how muchi would cost to clean up toxic stances in the Gulf of Mexicoim “worst case scenario,” and toll about 100 people attending tht debate that there was a ‘‘certaa loophole” in the Superfunl legislation “that may removed bility (from Chemical Was# Management) and transfer ittt the taxpayers.” C d U DA bert, the w in a n 17 ye at th assoc: T night famil crem plant Blair her owne Parlo taura Kaufman said, also, that ins because the burns will takeplatt 150 miles from any people doe not mean that people wouldtta be affected by the burns. "Just because there may not be a problem with respiratiot because of the distnce does not mean people wi II not bt affected. Your’re dealing wiili the food chain. You need a b ter definition of what thost effects can be. That type of wot! has not been put together. Its not just the respiratory impact, it’s also the impact on the chain.” Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf Jf NEED CASH? We offer premium dollars on used Books... r CHECK THE TLouporsnui Check on our Trade Policy wmm I I j Eirerre— I and Save 20% More. FREE Parking Behind the Store CUSS F EDS For AI Your Needs A cXX X? 6^ ^ ° Post Oak Mall she s A Rob Panh colur New Alth< in 19 unin T( lishei bert': T1 pton starti town ago latesi Tl prop day’s cook T< then tradi boy Pi te; Ui AU! 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