Page 2 • Thursday, July 1, 1999 The Bad News Andrews signs military deal Disposal center agrees to handle waste for Defense Department ODESSA (AP) — A nuclear dump is still on track for a West Texas county after a company which al ready operates a disposal-and-treat- ment center in the area received two large contracts from the U.S. De partment of Defense and the Army Corps of Engineers worth millions of dollars. Workers for Waste Control Spe cialists (WCS) plan to dispose of hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of low-level radioactive materials in western Andrews County. “These are sites that for the most part processed materials for the Manhattan Project being remediated by the Army Corps of Engineers,” Bill Dornsife, vice president of nu clear affairs for WCS, told the Odessa American. Company documents the news paper obtained show the five-year contract with the Army Corps of En- NEWS IN BRIEF Waterways center honored for Website The Texas Transportation In stitute Center for Ports & Water ways was recognized with the In ternational Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) Award for In formation Technology for its work on an Internet-based clearing house used in locating informa tion related to maritime indus tries. The Maritime Economic Re sources and Marine and Inter- modal Directory, called MER MAID, received the gold award, the highest award given in each category. MERMAID is a collection of links to maritime information and provides summaries of informa tion found within each of the links listed. Students working at the Cen ter for Ports & Waterways, which, is hous.ecj ^t. Texas A&M Un.iver- sity-Galveston, collect data for the clearinghouse through the In ternet. The Website contains more than 1,200 links covering all as pects of the maritime trans portation system. The Internet address for MERMAID is http://maritime .tamu.edu gineers may be worth up to $96 mil lion to WCS and represents hun dreds of thousands of cubic yards of material. Lawmakers earlier this month finished their session without chang ing the state’s nuclear waste law. In accordance with the federally ap proved compact for nuclear waste with Maine and Vermont, it requires that low-level nuclear waste be buried in Hudspeth County. But the Andrews Industrial Foun dation wanted to attract a dump for economic development purposes. Shipments of the Naturally Oc curring Radioactive Material (NORM), and Low-Activity Ra dioactive Material (LARM) waste from military sites around St. Louis, Mo., and New Jersey may start ar riving by rail this fall. The Department of Defense awarded one of the contracts to Historic Continued from Page P of the restaurant should be paying for this themselves.” Chad Grauke, a principal with Arkitex Studio, the architecture firm that planned the renovations, said the project began regardless of the ordinance because the property had to comply with state requirements. He said the architecture firm con tacted the Texas Historic Commis sion and was told the property was not designated as historical and therefore there were no state re quirements regarding the preserva tion of the structure. Ned Coleman, an employee in the cemetery preservation office of the Texas Historical Commission, confirmed that the structure had not been officially designated as a historical structure. He said the probable reason for this was because the structure had been moved from its original envi ronment. Coleman said the movement of a structure from one piece of pfop- erty to another was a major reason some structures are not considered for historical designation. Grauke said the renovations were funded by the facade grant program, which distributes federal funds through the community de velopment sector of the city of Col lege Station. WCS after the material already had been disposed of at Enviro- care’s Utah site. Following dis posal, Envirocare found the mate rial contained small amounts of depleted uranium and lead from bullet fragments. Envirocare’s high cost for dispos al of “mixed” wastes — hazardous and radioactive material that is mixed together — led the DOD to re contract the waste for disposal at WCS, Dornsife said. The company operates a storage, processing and disposal facility for hazardous and low-level radioactive wastes at a 1,330-acre facility in western An drews County. State legislators blocked WCS from being able to hold its own operating license and contract di rectly with the U.S. Department of Energy for military-generated ra dioactive waste. These grants are used to improve the exteriors of structures and have been used to renovate Burger Boy, University Book Store and Loupot’s Bookstore in Northgate. Randy Brumley, housing pro grams coordinator for the Commu nity Development in College Station and facade program liaison for the project, said changes being made to the structure include aesthetic changes, utility improvements and restaurant capabilities. Brumley said the air condi tioning, plumbing and electric services are being brought up to code. He said in addition to these changes some new aspects will be added to the structure, and some of the original materials will be used. “A new roof, new siding and some new windows will be added, but some of the older windows are being used,” Brumley said. He said the building will have a “sense of the era” and will feature plantation style columns in the front. Grauke said the restaurant will bring College Station increased rev enue. “The property value will in crease and the increased property tax will benefit the city of College Station,” Grauke said. “Basically the city got this for free since the project was funded by a federal grant, not by the taxpayers of Col lege Station.” NUTZ BY R. DELUNA X Thiajk ub 'Really Got LEE -fibuSLE UlITtf ^ PfcoF ... -u>£ SHoOLb ^ ) ° SO WE 1 'You seen To |0WD °E "SJCA^^ r mSE Yoore^ Sick /W TtiflT'S CJHV, You 'R£ Acting t ODD' nj That Lj/)S\/3o 5,T DOaJ'T A PRETTY J COO A)T OA) Goot> \ 1 GETTING A SAME ■ } \ X)pae M Yh/WICS‘ 'G soov, 5 elOuMsiobo.. Making a racket JR BEATO ImB Bill Quinn (right), a junior accounting major, and Ben Inman (left), a junior biology major, exchange shots during an intense match of racquetball at the Student Recreation Center. Quinn and Inman said they usually play a game of racquetball at least twice a week. Safety Continued from Page 1 “The most important things to remember are to always read and follow label directions, to be sure to have water handy and to nev er experiment or attempt to make your own fireworks,” Humphrey said. “Also, you should never reignite malfunctioning fire works, and never throw fire works at another person or shoot fireworks in metal or glass con tainers.” Those who will be near water, whether lakes or pools, for the holiday should exercise neces sary precautions as well. Jim Soper, an official for the recreational sanitation branch of the Texas Department of Health, said people should be careful where they are diving, especially in natural bodies of water. “Most of the diving accidents we have involve younger men diving into shallow bodies of wa ter. Often these incidents involve alcohol,” Soper said. Soper also warned people who will be swimming in swimming pools to always keep their hair, as well as their bodies, away from any drains. On the roads, the College Sta tion Police Department will be targeting speed and seat belt vio lations over the course of the weekend. Lieutenant Mike Matthews, Col lege Station Police Depart® said officers will be paidoveita I to enforce these laws andwiflti i whatever precautions neces* violators are caught. “We received this grant In I the Texas Department of Hai portation,” Matthews said." use the money to pay officers I overtime during the weeks! rounding Independence D Memorial Day and Labor I j holidays.” Matthews said local residt j will see the signs of i statewide campaign fromltil through July 8. The targeted, i in College Station are: FM60, 2818, FM 2154 (Wellborn Rc: ! Highway 30 (Harvey Road), Highway 6 (East Bypass). t a u a n t Crazy Cajun Night THURSDAY NIGHT $ / .50 Bottle Cajun Beer Specials: Abita • Blackened Voodoo • Dixie 99