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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (July 13, 1990)
t (The Battalion sSTATE & LOCAL Thursday, July 12,1990 icrobes gobble oil successfully; environment remains unharmed HOUSTON microbes ova] (AP) — Oil-eating dumped on a slick from a leaking tanker appar ently did their job: gobbling up oil without nurt- jngthe environment, state officials said. tate Land Commissioner Garry Mauro and ff'exas Water Commission Chairman B.J. “Buck” Wynne said Thursday that while more testing is Seeded, there’s enough evidence for them to lush for expanded use of the process, called bi- ^remediation. __ 1 “Our results aren’t definitive, so some of you may accuse me of throwing caution to the waves,” auro said at a news conference. “I disagree. We ave strong evidence that bioremediation works, he results show that we are close to having a ol that actually cleans up oil spills.” “The results are very encouraging,” Wynne Idded. The microbes were tested after the Norwegian nker Mega Borg exploded and burned 57 miles ff Texas’ shore in the Gulf of Mexico on June 8. n estimated 3.9 million gallons of light crude aked into the Gulf. Much of the oil burned, but some of it created slick that appeared to be headed towards the exas coast. open usines mtagt are on : Skimmers and booms were deployed to clean up some of the oil, but Mauro and Wynne pushed to test the microbes. The test, first done on about 40 acres of the spill and again on a smaller patch, was not a major part of the cleanup. Mauro and Wynne said Thursday there is no evidence that the microbes caused any environ mental damage. Both said the microbes should be used again on the next significant oil spill, and should be tested on smaller spills near the Texas coast. The test on the Mega Borg spill marked the first time the microbes were used in open waters. Bioremediation had been used before that to clean up hazardous waste sites, extract oil from tight geologic formations, and clean some rocks on shore after the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska lastyear. The naturally occurring bacteria reduce the oil to an emulsion of fatty acids. This emulsion sinks and is eaten by fish. When the oil is gone, the mi crobes die. In the first test, researchers could see that the microbes reacted with the oil on the open sea as they did in the laboratory, Mauro said. Next, microbes were poured over a smaller, isolated slick and samples were taken every two hours for 12 hours. Those results were com pared with a nearby slick that wasn’t treated. “We found surface oil was reduced after the application, and we found no similar reduction in the control slick,” Mauro said. The surface oil in some samples was “reduced to 30 percent of the original volume,” he said. Wynne and Mauro conceded that weather and currents may have had some effect on dispersing the oil, but tney were confident the microbes had done their duty in eating some of the goo. Mauro said bioremediation could be the premier tool in cleaning up spills. “The best that anything else in our oil spill re sponse arsenal can do is mitigate disaster,” he said. The next step, he said, involves persuading companies to include bioremediation in their oil spill contingency plans. “I’m not saying our re sults are definitive, that they prove bioremedia tion is the solution for oil spills,” Mauro said, but “we have enough evidence to make a public pol icy decision.” Youth present free talent show in Rudder Teenagers from the Youth Op portunity Unlimited program will g resent a talent show at 8 p.m. aturday in Rudder Auditorium. Entertainment will include dances, skits, singing and rap mu sic. Admission is free. For more in- forrhation, call the YOU office at 845-0037. Faculty/Staff Dr. John Sweeten, an extension agricultural engineer and a professor of agricul tural engineering, has been elected as a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers. Dr. George Carter, distinguished professor emeritus of geography, has received the first gold medal award from the Institute for the Study of American Cultures for his decades of work on the origins of American Indians. Dr. Max Summers, a professor of entomology, has been named president-elect to the American Society for Virology. Edward Hiler, deputy chancellor for academic program planning and research, was elected to the presidency of the American Society of Agricultral Engi neers. Friday eont rtswiil] fare e is tlit for eyjux lem. /ay, I n’t, of Rev .vecoi iny te.Wti l heat ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. CATHOLIC STUDENTS ASSOCIATION: will have Aggie Awakening #28. Call 846-5717 for more information. follow at 6 p.m. at Sonny's Barbeque in Hearne information. jppi . Ci all 845-1741 for more ten i: resro -onus -ictioi onfc thoot nakit esan fou$ rwani oedf jthei AGENT ORANGE AND THE DEFOLIANTS: will be at Kay's Cabaret at 9 p.m. Saturday NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at 8:30 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS:wiil have a general discussion at 6 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. Monday ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. Tuesday NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at 8:30 p.m. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: will have a general discussion at noon. Call the C.D.P.E. at 845-0280 for more information. Items for What's Up should be submitted to The Battalion, 216 Reed McDonald, no later than three business days before the desired run date. We only publish the name and phone number of the contact if you ask us to do so. What's Up is a Battalion service that lists non-profit events and activities. Submissions are run on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no guarantee an entry will run. If you have questions, call the newsroom at 845-3315. Clements predicts Williams as victor in gubernatorial race Opinion polls, undecided voters aid decision Officials set water rations for counties Dead turtle discovered on shore AUSTIN (AP) — Gov. Bill Clements, Texas’ only Re publican governor this century, on Thursday predicted that Clayton Williams would be his successor. Clements said Williams’ early lead over Democrat Ann Richards in opinion polls, combined with a rela tively small number of undecided voters, would help the Republican candidate win November’s election. “The people of Texas, in a historic sense, seem to have consolidated their views and made their mind up. There’s only about a 10 or 11 percentage point unde cided vote out there. I can’t even remember where this has been the situation before,” Clements said. “I think Clayton Williams is just doing great,” he said. “I’m going to help him every way I can. He has main tained his poll lead over a long period of time and it’s rock solid.’ Elected in 1978 and 1986, Clements is the only Re publican to hold the governor’s office since Reconstruc tion. He said he based his prediction on several opinion polls, along with a preview he received of Williams’ campaign strategy. Clements discounted Richards’ criticism of Williams’ most recent controversial remark, which came in de fense of his earlier admission that he was “serviced” by prostitutes as a young man. In a profile published in U.S. News & World Report, Williams said, “In the world I live in of bulls and cattle men, you talk about the bull servicing the cow. I was try ing to find a nice, polite term for (vulgarism for sexual intercourse).” Williams admitted last April that he paid for sex a number of times in Texas and Mexico as a young man and used the term “serviced.” “Some of Mr. Williams’ language is salty at times,” said press secretary Gordon Hensley. “But the voters appear to appreciate his candor, and that doesn’t ap pear to hurt him in the polls.” Richards issued a statement saying Williams’ com ments “do not reflect the image that we need when Texas businesses are trying to compete in the world marketplace. It is also hard to understand why he con tinues to insult women and family values.” Clements was asked whether Williams suffers from “foot-in-mouth” disease. “I don’t think there’s any problem whatsoever,” the governor said. “He’s a great candidate.” Clements said it was too early to say whether a Wil liams victory would help other Republicans capture of fices this fall. If Williams wins big, however, Clements said that would be good news for other GOP candi dates. “If it’s a very narrow race, and I’m talking about a 51 percent (majority) race, I don’t think he will have coat tails,” he said. “If the win is in the magnitude of the 55, 56 (percent) range, there will be coattails,” Clements said. The governor also said he was glad Vice President Dan Quayle is coming to Texas next week to campaign for two other GOP hopefuls: agriculture commissioner candidate Rick Perry and attorney general nominee J.E. “Buster” Brown. “I think Dan Quayle is an asset to President Bush and he will be an asset to any of the candidates in Texas with whom he campaigns ... He’s welcome any time,” Clem ents said. Clements said he hoped Richards would ask the 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, to campaign for her. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Water rationing begins immediately in Bexar, Comal and Hays counties, where officials are worried about the level of the Edwards Aquifer. “We will enforce the plan in the counties,” said Russell Masters, gen eral manager of the Edwards Un derground Water District, which adopted the rules Wednesday. The measures restrict lawn water ing and car washing to designated days and prohibit filling hot tubs and swimming pools. Watering of golf courses is prohibited except once every five days on tees and greens. The plan also bans washing side walks, driveways and other impene trable surfaces and prohibits inside and outside fountains unless they reuse water. Each city within the three-county Water district has the power to set fines. San Antonio has fines up to $200, for instance. The water district can bring civil lawsuits against viola tors in unincorporated areas; the district can also sue cities for non- compliance. The emergency plan expires Dec. 31. It was drawn up by the Texas Water Commission unaer Commis sioner John Birdwell’s direction. Birdwell has been mediating dis putes over water in the Edwards Aquifer, an underground reservoir that is the sole water source for more than 1.3 million people, most of whom live in Bexar County. Official apologizes for mismanagement jjei GALVESTON (AP) — Another dead sea turtle washed up on shore Thursday, bringing to 12 the num- ler of turtles found dead since shrimping season opened Sunday. The turtle found Thursday was a Kemp’s Ridley turtle, an endan- Igered species, said Neal Baxter, act ing director of the Galveston Na tional Marine Fisheries Service laboratory in Galveston. It was the fifth Kemp’s Ridley found dead, Baxter said. The others were logger- leads. “It just washed in with the tide,” a, he said. Environmentalists accuse shrimp ers for the deaths, alleging the shrimpers are not obeying new laws Cequiring them to put devices on meir nets that would let turtles es cape. Baxter says it’s too soon to flraw any conclusions, but testing ^■ill begin next week to determine [the cause of death. * The turtles have been stored in on | freezers. The Coast Guard has ticketed at Jkast nine vessels since Sunday for al- '^kgedly violating turtle protection WS off the Texas coast. Officials ^ said some shrimpers had purposely Sii ^disabled their turtle excluder de- 6l(®ces, or TEDS, in their nets. Federal law requires that all ihrimp nets be equipped with the de- Jces, which have built-in hatches for the sea turtles. escape DALLAS (AP) — A TU Electric official, fired after his allegations of widespread mismanagement were made public, has apologized and will receive more than $180,000 in bene fits, a newspaper reported. In a severance agreement reached June 7, Jim Taylor, a former district manager for TU Electric in Plano, will receive disability pay and medi cal benefits totaling more than $180,000 through 1996, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. The benefits could be reducea if he obtains another job, according to the agreement. In a letter also dated June 7, Tay lor apologized for his earlier allega tions and blamed his “irrational ac tion” on “tremendous personal stress.” But he didn’t formally withdraw the more than 70 allegations raised in documents that he mailed this spring to state and federal regula tors. In his letter of apology, he said much of his information “was based hearsay and assumptions which were unsubstantiated.” His apology letter and his termi nation agreement are part of public records filed in the company’s pen ding request for a rate increase with the Public Utilities Commission. Taylor had alleged that TU Elec tric officials engaged in “clandes tine” lobbying and improper use of the company’s political action com mittee, interfered with the opera tions of rural electric cooperatives, and tried to undermine efforts by cities that oppose utility rate in creases. He also accused company officials of using corporate vehicles and com- E any-owned facilities, such as lake ouses, for personal benefit. PUC officials said the regulatory agency is continuing to investigate the accusations. In a termination agreement signed by E.L. Watson, senior vice president, of TU Electric, the com pany denied any wrongdoing. When asked about the allegations, Taylor said: “The best thing I can do is stay out of any kind of publicity. As far as I am concerned, tnis thing is over.” The termination agreement is similar to a proposal Taylor rejected earlier this year before he made his allegations, the newspaper said. In a sworn deposition given in the pending rate case, Taylor said he considered TU Electric’s earlier of fer to pay his $75,000 salary and medical benefits to be “hush money.” “I considered that nothing more than hush money with a little front- end wording on it where they could get me to sign that document and my wife to sign it, which would keep me from ever being able to effecti vely or even maybe legally bring forth my accusations publicly,” Tay- lor said May 21. The restaurants listed below were inspected by the Brazos County Health Department between July 2 and July 6. Information is from a food service estab lishment inspection report. SCORED BETWEEN 90 AND 95: Double Dave’s Pizza at 115 N. Main St. Score — 94. Points were deducted for inadequate amounts of hand cleanser, presence of animals and unprotected outer openings. It was a regularly scheduled inspec tion. Jack in the Box at 1504 S. Texas Ave. Score — 93. Points were deducted for improper storage of in-use utensils, improper storage of single-service articles, unclean non-food contact surfaces and presence of vermin. It was inspected because of a complaint. Beetle’s B.B.Q. at 201 E. William J. Bryan Park way Score — 91. Points were deducted for improper thawing of potentially hazardous food, improper storage of toxic items (major violation) and unclean food-contact surfaces. It was a regularly scheduled inspection. SCORED BETWEEN 80 AND 85: A&M Steakhouse at 108 College Main Score — 85. Points were deducted for improper thawing of potentially hazardous food, improper food protec tion during storage, improper storage of single-serv ice articles, unsatisfactory plumbing maintenance, hand drying device not provided, improper waste receptacles, unprotected outer openings and un clean floors. It was inspected because of a complaint. ty Dr. food were deducted for lack of food protection, inade quate maintenance of non-food contact surfaces, un clean non-food contact surfaces, unprotected outer openings, unsatisfactory repair of walls and ceilings, unshielded light fixtures and improper storage of toxic items (major violation). It was inspected be cause of a complaint. SCORED BETWEEN 70 AND 75: Bombay Bicycle Club at 607 Texas Ave. Score — 72. Points were deducted for potentially hazardous temperature of food (major violation), thermome ters not provided and conspicuous, improper food protection, improper storage of in-use utensils, im proper hygienic practices (major violation), unsatis factory non-food contact surfaces, inaccurate dish washer thermometers, unclean food contact surfaces of hand drying device not provided, uncovered gar bage receptacles, unclean garbage receptacles, un protected outer openings and unclean walls and ceil ings. It was inspected because of a complaint. David Jefferson, a registered sanitarian at the de partment, said restaurants with scores of 95 or above generally have excellent operations and facilities. He said restaurants with scores in the 70s or low 80s usually have serious violations in the health report. Scores can be misleading, Jefferson said, because restaurants can get the same score by having several minor violations or a few major violations. He said the minor violations can be corrected during the in spection. Point deductions or violations in the report range from one point (minor violations) to Five points (major violations). Jefferson said the department might close a res taurant if the score is below 60, the personnel have infectious diseases, the restaurant lacks adequate re frigeration, there is a sewage backup in the building or the restaurant has a complete lack of sanitization for the food equipment. The department inspects each restaurant every six months. Jefferson said a follow-up inspection is sometimes required if a restaurant has a four- or five-point violation that cannot be corrected during the inspection, or if there are numerous small viola tions. Inspectors at the department are registered sani tarians. Isn’t tills a great ad? Sorry, but you missed it ... it was on radio! If you aren’t listening at the exact moment a commercial is aired on radio or t.v., you miss it. Not so with newspapersl People always find time to read their newspaper. That’s why newspaper advertising is the ideal sqiling tool for retailers. Tor advertising Information and rates, call The Battalion 848-2696 * ★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★ HAIR & TANNING SALON HAIRCUTS $10 OFFER GOOD W/MELINDA & MARTINE ONLY Offer good through Aug. 15 846-7993 • 700 University Dr. East • 846-8663 AM/PM Clinics • Minor Emergencies clinics • General Medical Care • Weight Reduction Program 10% Student Discount with I.D. Card (Except for Weight Program) 846-4756 693-0202 779-4756 3820 Texas 2305 Texas Ave S. 401 S. Texas (next to Randy Sims) (next to U Rent M) College Station (29th & Texas)