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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 1989)
Page 6 The Battalion Wednesday, Decembers, TIS The SEASON 505 CHURCH STREET COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77840 409/846-5332 HEWLETT PACKARD AUTHORIZED DEALER LASERJET SERIES II $1,670.00 LASERJET IIO $2,662.00 DESKJET $492 DESKJET PLUS $616 DESKWRITER $740 PAINTJET LASERJET IIP $926 7475A PLOTTER $1,175.00 NOTE PRICES ARE FOR CASH OR CHECK ONLY SCANJET SCANNER $988 Penn wait (Continued from page 1) talked to a local Pennwalt represen tative but received little assistance. “It’s infuriating, and talking about it makes me mad all over again,” she said. “I just felt very powerless.” “Mostly I just wanted informa tion. I talked to just the local Pen nwalt, the PR (public relations) guy. I remember he was just not very co operative, and I was surprised be cause I was just information-gather ing at the time.” Walker said Pennwalt officials care more about profits than the well-being of local residents. “As far as I can tell, they’re not concerned,” she said. “They’re inter ested in keeping their losses finan cially to a minimum. They don’t want to be fined if the fines are too heavy. They’re not concerned with the community; they’re not con cerned with people. They’re con cerned with the bottom dollar.” “They do what the EPA (Environ mental Protection Agency) forces them to do, and then they skate along as long as they can, because it would require major reorganization for them not to be as careless in their handling as they are.” Julie Jeter-Edwards, who lived near the plant for a year, said the contamination caused by Pennwalt is dangerous and that the company should clean it up. “I think Pennwalt ought to fix what they’ve done,” she said. “Cor porations like that need to clean up their damn messes, because it’s not only killing wildlife, it’s going to get us one of these days.” Some people who live near the plant, however, don’t think the con tamination is serious. Frank Trujillo, who lives near Fin- feather Lake, said the water contam ination never has caused any prob lems. “The neighbor’s kids, they played in it, waded in it, caught fish out of it,” he said. “People came from all over catching minnows out of this thing. I’ve never heard of anybody ever getting sick off it.” Activities such as these rarely oc cur today, however, because signs have been posted at the lakes warn ing people of the arsenic contami nation. Moore said that the contami nation caused by the plant has not affected public health. She said Pen nwalt is concerned about the envi ronment and has acted responsibly in dealing with the contamination. She also said that part of the contam ination was caused by Cotton Poi sons Inc., a firm that produced chemicals in the area before Pen nwalt bought it in 1944. “Pennwalt has been dealing with extremely complex environmental issues at the Bryan lakes for many years,” she said. “The very complex ity of those issues, which result in part from conduct by Pennwalt’s predecessor, has lengthened the re mediation process. Pennwalt is a re sponsible corporate citizen and is concerned about protecting the en vironment at all its locations, includ ing Bryan, Texas.” However, according to water com mission inspection reports, condi tions at the Bryan plant over the past several years have posed a potential threat to the environment. A June 1987 inspection report states that “general housekeeping does not ap pear adequate. Steel tanks con taining raw materials are not all bermed to prevent run-off if a spill occurs.” According to a June 1988 inspec tion report, “General housekeeping could be improved .... Potential for run-off into adjacent waterway still exists .... Some areas in and around holding tanks are still not bermed up to prevent spillage onto plant grounds in case of an acciden tal rupture of the raw materials tank.” A Jan. 31, 1989, inspection uncov ered several violations at the plant. A letter from the water commission to Arthur Chernosky, manufacturing manager at the Pennwalt plant, out lined the violations. “The company is responsible for the groundwater contamination im mediately underneath the plant,” the letter stated. “This is the result of arsenic leaching through the soil into the upper and middle aquifers. The contaminated groundwater ap pears to be surfacing into Pinfeather ness of surface water, lakesedi soil and air contamination wliii; taken place.” Dr. Eric Comstock, a meml the American Academy of Cl Toxicology and a clinical ass professor of medicine atthel College of Medicine, said of arsenic-contaminated wait dangerous. “Groundwater contaminatt 4,GOO milligrams per liter is substantial degree of coi nation,” he said. “This degret were used as potable water, ample, could lead to a vanr problems.” Comstock said that suchhif els of arsenic could lead to ska cer, lung cancer and otherdis in addition to causing shortifij fects. “Acute arsenic effects look Photo by Fredridb This sign is one of many around Pinfeather and nearby N Name Lake. In the background is the Pennwalt Corp. of Bryan. and No Name Lakes." No Name Lake is a small lake be tween the plant and Pinfeather Lake. Other violations included inade quate aisle space in the container storage areas and storage of con tainers for longer than 90 days, the maximum allowed storage time. The letter stated that penalties of $10,000 per day could be assessed against the company if it failed to ex plain the violations or remedy them. In a March 17 letter to the water commission, Chernosky said that the violations had been remedied or were being addressed at that time. Local Pennwalt officials would not comment on the issue of arsenic con tamination or ftny related topics. John Adams, manager of the Bryan plant, said that for the past several years, local company officials have been required to defer all questions to the company’s main office in Pennsylvania. According to water commission documents, groundwater in some areas near the plant contains about 4,000 milligrams of arsenic per liter. The legal limit for drinking water is 0.05 milligrams of arsenic per liter. Although the contaminated ground water is not used as a source of drinking water, it is possible — but not likely — that it could contami nate other sources of groundwater. According to a water commission report, “Unless the contaminant plume should reach a well in which it could migrate down the well outside any casing, usable groundwater is probably not at risk. This is not in tended to de-emphasize the serious- tially like cholera, leadingtoi tery, bloody diarrhea and vent problems,” he said. The Bryan plant also hai; duced air-borne contaminans: have found their way fromlhf|i site into nearby residential ares a result, the Texas Air Oh Board has taken action again; company. Because of the air contamim the company also has becoti target of several lawsuits. Jack and Stella Brown, wtoi near the plant, filed an$8.3iii lawsuit against the companvri According to the petition tta filed, the Browns believe ila charges from the plant mas! damaged their health and i property. “The plaintiffs greatly their health has been damajti that they will suffer or die in ik ture due to the toxic chemicals*: have contaminated the premise: the atmosphere above theprtc which plaintiffs have breathed: tinuously for a long period o[e the petition stated. A $2.3 milion lawsuit also filed against Pennwalt in Sepie: by the First Federal Savings: Loan Association of Bryan, to ing to t he petition, First fed which owns property near is unable to sell the propertyhes of damage caused to it by tkpi emissions. Pennwalt owns plants in 0 other Texas cities, includingH| ton, McAllen, Crosby am mont. Senate (Continued from page 1) mittee to express concerns and ask questions. Senate Speaker Herman Saat- kamp apologized and offered his sympathies to Jones and others who were upset with the scheduling, but said nothing could be done to change it. In other business, the Senate: • Passed a resolution asking the A&M administration to push for leg islation to raise the upper limit of re sponsibility to the A&M System from a total of $5 million to $500,000 per person in the event of a lawsuit in volving an A&M employee. • Approved a resolution by the Ad Hoc Committee on Selection and Evaluation of Administrators con cerning the selection, evaluation, and retention of deans. • Passed a resolution deploring the destruction of the shanty erected by the Students Against Apartheid and all other acts of racism at the University. • Approved the elimination of seven sophomore-level courses from the Speech and Writing Skills cat egory in the core curriculum. The it I know I won’t be here, and I yvould hope that others would join me in this protest.” — Dr. Woodrow Jones, professor courses, which are Shakespeare, World Literature 1 and II, American Literature I and II and English Lit erature I and II, will be offered only under the Cultural Heritage head ing in the curriculum. • Passed requests for newf uate-level courses in chemical.' I neering, civil engineering, metb cal engineering, elecli engineering, and counseling chology and a new undergrac course in mathematics. The St also approved two changes in requisites for two undergrade level physics courses. • Approved a recommend: f rom the Graduate Counciltolt dergraduates enroll in classes!* those already with bachelor! grees, but voted down a recom: dation that post-baccalaureate, degree-seeking graduate must attain and maintain a in order to remain eligible to* ter. • Discussed revising a byla» earning the composition of theft mittee on Emeritus Status toinft J consultation with the collegeds library director, and the college: cuses and a maximum three term on the committee. abilities Popcorn ♦ Chocolates ♦ Balloons BALLOON decorations for your office, graduation or Christmas party 3737 East 29th St. Bryan, TX 77802 268-4001 315B Dominik Dr. College Station, TX 77840 693-2409 ■M MBI KM MIMilMaiaiV I,