Rooster "Crowing"
"Okeydoke"
History
1810 Charles Remond, first full-time Black lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, is born free in Salem, MA.
1893, hundreds of thousands of settlers swarmed onto a section of land in Oklahoma known as the "Cherokee Strip."
1919, the American Legion was incorporated by an act of Congress.
1923 First Catholic seminary for Black priests is dedicated in Bay St. Louis, MS.
1925 Riley "B.B." King, is born as a sharecropper and raised on a plantation in Mississippi. He will become the ambassador of American blues with his distinctive melodic guitar sound with his release "The Thrill Is Gone"
1950 Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the leading Black intellectuals of his time, is born in Keyser, WV
1974, President Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War deserters and draft-evaders.
1977, Maria Callas, the American-born prima donna famed for her lyric soprano voice and fiery temperament, died in Paris at age 53.
1982, the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children by Lebanese Christian militiamen began in west Beirut's Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps.
Missing in Action
1965 MERRITT RAYMOND J. PORTLAND OR "02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV (SAN GABRIEL, CA)" ALIVE AND WELL 98
1965 RISNER ROBINSON TULSA OK 02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1966 BUCHANAN HUBERT E. INDIANAPOLIS IN 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1966 ROBERTSON JOHN L. SEATTLE WA NVN TOLD SUBJ DIED IN INTERROG
1967 BAGLEY BOBBY R. CUMMING GA 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV DECEASED 12/05/97
1969 TRAMPSKI DONALD J. CHESTERTON IN
1975 BIAGINI FREDERICK J. " RELEASED, DATE UNKNOWN"
The Jerusalem Post
Hamas asserts power in Gaza
By JPOST STAFF AND AP
On Friday afternoon, thousands of masked Hamas gunmen marched in formation at a large victory rally in this empty Jewish settlement Friday, the Islamic terror organization's latest show of strength since Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
Channel Two news reported Friday night that the islamist terror organization had also taken up military-like positions along the Philadelphi Route, as well as a rumor that the greenhouses still standing for Palestinian use were preserved because Hamas had warned civilians not to harm the valuable asset.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837397882
PA lawmakers demand cabinet resigns
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian legislators on Thursday demanded the resignation of the cabinet of Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, holding it responsible for the ongoing state of anarchy and lawlessness in Palestinian Authority-controlled territories.
The demand came as Palestinian security officials confirmed on Thursday that large amounts of weapons and drugs were being smuggled into the Gaza Strip since Israel completed its withdrawal from the area. "Drug traffickers and arms dealers are exploiting the chaos at the Rafah border crossing to smuggle lethal and harmful items," said one official. "The Palestinians security forces have seized large amounts of drugs over the past few days."
"The situation is very dangerous, especially in the Gaza Strip," said Rouhi Fattouh, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council. "We are demanding that the Palestinian Authority put an end to security chaos and start collecting illegal weapons. The Palestinian leadership isn't doing enough to impose law and order."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126750770542
Sharon meets with King Abdullah
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST STAFF
United Nations
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met Jordan's King Abdullah II at the UN headquarters on Friday morning, just before the king's summit speech in which he called for "zero tolerance" against extremism and said his Arab kingdom is working to promote moderate Islam across the globe.
According to Army Radio, in the course of the meeting, Sharon told Abdullah that Israel opposed Hamas's candidacy in the upcoming Palestinian Authority elections and that the PA now needed help strengthening its economy and building institutions.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126750771024
IDF nabs Palestinian infiltrator
By MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
Security forces caught one of two Palestinians who infiltrated Moshav Netiv Ha'asera early Friday morning after searching for five hours. The infiltrator was found unarmed near Kibbutz Karmia, four kilometers away from Netiv Ha'asera. He was handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for questioning. Meanwhile security forces continued searching for the second infiltrator, who they believed might still have been in the area.
Around 7 a.m., soldiers spotted signs of infiltration from northern Gaza in Moshav Netiv Ha'asera, near its hothouse area. Residents were called to remain in their homes as security forces began scouring the area for the infiltrators.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837397258
Beirut blast kills one, wounds 23
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIRUT, Lebanon
A bomb exploded in Beirut residential neighborhood late Friday, killing at least one person and wounding 23, police said, in the latest in a string of blasts in the Lebanese capital.
The blast, which went off just before midnight, caused heavy damage to a street in predominantly Christian east Beirut. Several buildings were damaged and at least two cars were completely destroyed. Wounded people could be seen carried to ambulances that rushed to the scene.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126837398458
Take back the holy sites
By MICHAEL FREUND
The scenes from Gaza are as ghastly as they were predictable. Energized by Israel's retreat, thousands of Palestinians wasted little time in descending on abandoned Jewish communities, torching yeshivot and bulldozing synagogues in a frenzy of hate and destruction.
Among those leading the charge was none other than Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who dismissed these places of Jewish prayer and study as "empty structures" and vowed that all such buildings would be destroyed.
Indeed, in the former Jewish community of Netzarim, Palestinian policemen chose not to intervene as rioters assaulted the synagogue, with one Palestinian officer telling a Western journalist: "The people have the right to do what they are doing."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1126578007980
The Boston Globe
Off Hanover St., North End comfort food
By Anand Vaishnav, September 15, 2005
Waterfront Cafe
Add your own review
Location: 450 Commercial St., North End / Boston; 617-523-0613
Prices: $4-$14
Hours: Daily 11 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
Credit Cards: All major credit cards accepted.
Handicap access: Fully accessible.
Strolling through the North End in search of a place to eat can be a daunting experience. After just a few blocks down Hanover Street, the menus begin to blur, and the lines out the doors are intimidating. The neighborhood serves up some of the city's finest cuisine, but sometimes all you want is a freshly made pizza, a pint of beer, and the Sox game on TV.
So keep walking until Hanover Street ends at the waterfront, turn left, and wander into the Waterfront Cafe. The restaurant/bar sits on the edge of the North End, where the city meets the sea, and has won quiet accolades for its simple Italian-American dishes and relaxed atmosphere.
http://www.boston.com/dining/globe_review/1188
Romney stands by mosque comments
By Theo Emery, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
BOSTON --Muslim groups and civil libertarians demanded an apology from Gov. Mitt Romney on Friday for his comments about wiretapping mosques and monitoring foreign students. But the governor refused, saying he was only advocating for improved homeland security.
The groups delivered a letter to Romney that said "your desire to wiretap mosques is an affront to the values and principles that make America a great country." The groups include the American Civil Liberties Union and various mosques and Islamic organizations.
After the letter was delivered, spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said the governor would not apologize or retract his comments.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/09/16/romney_stands_by_mosque_comments/
France names Muslim chaplain for prisons
By Jamey Keaten, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
PARIS --France's main Muslim organization has appointed its first national chaplain for prisons, an effort to root out the causes of deadly religious extremism and prevent the spread of Islamic militancy behind bars.
Speaking to reporters Friday for the first time since his hiring last week, Moulay El Hassan El Alaoui -- a Moroccan-born high school math teacher -- said that Muslims make up about half the 56,000 inmates in French jails and that one of his top priorities will be "teaching about how to interpret the Quran."
The government hopes his selection will help improve religious counseling for imprisoned Muslims, though authorities do not keep figures on the religious affiliation of inmates, in accordance with French laws that guarantee state secularism.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/france_names_muslim_chaplain_for_prisons/
Greenland premier calls early elections
September 16, 2005
COPENHAGEN, Denmark --Premier Hans Enoksen called early elections after Greenland's governing coalition collapsed after a scandal over the misuse of public funds forced two cabinet members to quit.
The election of a new 31-member Landsting, Greenland's parliament, will be held Nov. 22, Enoksen said Thursday.
The split between Enoksen's social democratic Siumut party and junior partner Inuit Ataqatigiit stems from a scandal involving the ministers for fisheries and hunting, and for housing and infrastructure.
Both resigned in recent months following allegations they used government funds for personal expenses, including alcohol and dinners. Greenland is a semi-independent Danish territory.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/greenland_premier_calls_early_elections/
Flash flood watch issued as Tropical Storm Ophelia heads north
By Boston.com Staff And Wire Reports September 16, 2005
The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood watch for extreme southeast Massachusetts until 6 p.m. tonight, as Tropical Storm Ophelia slowly churns its way up the coast.
Torrential downpours of 2 to 4 inches of rain per hour are expected this afternoon over Cape Cod, the islands and Plymouth County.
The weather service warns that flash flooding is very dangerous, particularly for motorists. Officials there say drivers should be careful not to drive over roadways that are covered with water as water depths may be too great to allow cars to pass.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/articles/2005/09/16/cape_cod_takes_precautions_as_tropical_storm_ophelia_heads_north/
A MODERN DAY WITCH HUNT - THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH SHOULD COME TO MASSACHUSETTS EXCLUSIVELY. THEY COULD HOLD THEIR HEARING IN SALEM !!
Vatican bid to find gays in seminary stirs concern
By Michael Paulson, Globe Staff September 16, 2005
An effort by the Vatican to look for evidence of homosexuality in Catholic seminaries is alarming gay rights advocates but is pleasing conservatives, who are hoping that Pope Benedict XVI will soon issue a ban on gay men as future priests.
The planned search for homosexuality is part of a Vatican review prompted by the clergy sexual abuse crisis of 229 American seminaries, theology schools, and other institutions that train priests. It is set to begin this month.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/16/vatican_bid_to_find_gays_in_seminary_stirs_concern/
Hurricane cleanup costs worry conservatives
By Richard Cowan September 16, 2005
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative Republicans on Capitol Hill are worried about the growing costs of rebuilding the storm-ravaged U.S. Gulf Coast, and want to pay for it by cutting domestic spending on programs like a new prescription drug benefit for the elderly.
"It's not an exaggeration to say that we're on the verge of a meltdown," said John Hart, a spokesman for Sen. Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican who has threatened to hold up emergency spending bills to pay for the reconstruction unless offsetting budget cuts are found.
Fiscal conservatives in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are concerned the costs of rebuilding roads, utilities, businesses and homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina will swell an already large U.S. budget deficit.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/16/hurricane_cleanup_costs_worry_conservatives/
Corruption a worry as Katrina aid flows
By Melinda Deslatte, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
BATON ROUGE, La. --The sudden flow of billions of dollars in hurricane relief aid into New Orleans has raised fears that some of it is going to be lost to graft and sticky fingers in a state with a long and rich history of corruption.
A group of current and former state officials is calling for more safeguards, more transparency in spending and the appointment of independent analysts to avoid corruption and keep the state out of trouble.
"If we don't do this properly, we're going to see the second looting of areas impacted by this horrible storm," said Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/16/corruption_a_worry_as_katrina_aid_flows/
Katrina Bush Highlights
By The Associated Press September 16, 2005
Summaries of some of the major proposals President Bush has put forward to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina:
The administration will ask Congress for a $2.6 billion package to cover the costs of educating an estimated 372,000 students whose schools were destroyed by Katrina. The administration wants the money to compensate public school districts and private schools that take in evacuated students. The proposal to compensate private schools is certain to re-ignite the "school voucher" battle over providing public money to private schools.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/16/summaries_of_bushs_katrina_proposals/
Ukraine honors journalist slain in 2000
By Natasha Lisova, Associated Press Writer September 16, 2005
KIEV, Ukraine --Ukraine marked the fifth anniversary Friday of the unsolved murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze, whose abduction and beheading sparked the biggest scandal of former President Leonid Kuchma's rule.
Journalists, politicians and activists gathered at the forest edge outside the capital where Gongadze's headless body was found in 2000, 50 days after he disappeared.
"People must know the whole truth about the crime. ... Then they will trust the new authorities," said Oleksandr Moroz, lawmaker and leader of the Socialist Party.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/09/16/ukraine_remembers_journalists_abduction/
Kashmir enjoying a peaceful summer
By Neelesh Misra and Mujtaba Ali Ahmad, Associated Press Writers September 16, 2005
SRINAGAR, India --Of all the signs the India-Pakistan peace process is producing tangible results, one stands out: Kashmir is running low on chickens.
Chickens are the key ingredient in the traditional Kashmiri wedding feast, and with the region experiencing its most peaceful summer since the start of its Islamic insurgency in 1989, this year's wedding season is among the most festive in years.
Kashmir lies at the heart of the India-Pakistan rivalry -- the neighbors have fought two wars over the predominantly Muslim region, which is split between them but claimed by both.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2005/09/16/kashmir_enjoying_a_peaceful_summer/
U.S. Marine killed in explosion in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq --A U.S. Marine was killed in an explosion in the volatile western province of al-Anbar, the military said Friday.
The Marine, assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, was killed Thursday in an "indirect fire explosion" in Forward Operating Base Camp Ramadi, Iraq, the military said in a statement. His identity was not released pending notification of next of kin.
The latest death raises to 1,898 the number of U.S. troops killed since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,473 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2005/09/16/us_marine_killed_in_explosion_in_iraq/
The Cheney Observer
Rove: Remember That Story?
Submitted by editor on September 15, 2005 - 1:46pm.
By Matthew Wheeland
Source: AlterNet
Over at DailyKos, Congressman John Conyers, who has long been one of the most outspoken voices calling for accountability in the Bush Administration, has new developments in the Rove-Plame scandal.
Starting tomorrow and stretching through next week, 4 House Committees are expected to vote on resolutions addressing the Valerie Plame leak. Specifically, these resolutions demand information from the Bush Administration on the outing of Valerie Plame in apparent retaliation for Ambassador Wilson's truth telling concerning weapons of mass destruction. The Bush Administration refuses to police itself in the midst of criminal and ethical misconduct and it is time for Congress to exercise its duty to oversee the Executive Branch.
Conyers also lists times and websites where you can watch and listen to these discussions, and explains why this is a crucial step:
http://mediachannel.org/blog/node/1021
Will we allow more of the same?
By Deborah E. Gauthier/ News Staff Writer
Thursday, September 15, 2005
George W. Bush has done a lot of damage in the five short years he's been president. A wiser man would recognize his shortcomings and resign, but Bush is not a wise man.
What good would his resignation do at this point, anyway? Next in line for the presidency is Dick Cheney, the man who holds the strings to puppet Bush, a man held in high regard by oilmen and warlords who are making a fortune through Bush/Cheney policies.
And where is our second-in-command? Cheney hasn't said one word about the ongoing disaster on the Gulf Coast. He hasn't made one personal appearance to assure victims of Hurricane Katrina that there is help. He hasn't been seen on CNN defending the federal government's slow response to the hurricane disaster.
http://www.townonline.com/shrewsbury/opinion/view.bg?articleid=322851
Follow the money for the real story
Molly Ivins, Creators Syndicate
Published September 15, 2005
AUSTIN, Texas -- Here's a good idea: Consumer groups and progressive congressfolks have joined in an effort to stop hundreds of thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina from being further harmed by the new bankruptcy law, scheduled to take effect Oct. 17. This law was written of, by and for the consumer credit industry and is particularly onerous for the poor.
The bill was passed with massive support from the Republican leadership in Congress and from a disgusting number of sellout Democrats. While it was being considered in committee earlier this year, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) offered an amendment to protect victims of natural disasters. It was defeated, without debate, on a party-line vote.
Now, Congress has a chance to rethink some of the most punitive parts of the bill. Katrina victims who were planning to file before the new law goes into effect are out of luck--where are they gonna find a lawyer, let alone an open courthouse?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0509150092sep15,1,3603154.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed
Senate Democrats to investigate Halliburton
by PageOneQ
United States Senator Byrond Dorgan of North DaKota has announced that the Senate's Democratic Policy Committee will meet to examine the demotion of an emloyee of Halliburon, the large government contracting company formerly headed by ce President Dick Cheney.
In a report released by the Equality Forum, Halliburton was cited as just one of 8% of companies in the Fortune 500 to not have a policy protectting employees from descrimination within the company on the basis of sexual orientation. (PageOneQ: Wendys and Halliburton among small percentage of Fortune 500 companies not protecting gays.
http://pageoneq.com/news/2005/Halliburton_091505.html
Peace activist from Texas may have to pay for his deportation
SYDNEY, Australia -- An American peace activist who was removed from Australia after being labeled a security threat may have to pay more than 11,000 Australian dollars, or $8,435 in U.S. dollars, for his deportation, his lawyer said Friday.
Scott Parkin, of Houston, was removed from Australia on Thursday after he was arrested five days earlier and told his tourist visa had been canceled because he posed a threat to national security.
http://www.kristv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3857396
Cashing in on the blame
YOU KNOW THE world is out of whack when it takes resume inflation to finally move Michael Brown out of his job running FEMA.
You'd think letting thousands of people suffer and die over four days without food, water, medicine or airlifts would have prompted President Bush to declare, "Brownie, you're fired." Instead, it wasn't until Time magazine reported that Brown's bio listed him as assistant city manager rather than assistant to the city manager that Brown was given the heave-ho from running Katrina operations on Sept. 9. He resigned from FEMA three days later.
But the world is really strange when the person responsible finally accepts responsibility and that's headline news. "Bush Accepts Blame for Slow Hurricane Response," heralded the Los Angeles Times, and congratulations to the president were all over TV. You'd think he had said he was going to get rid of anyone on whose watch those 34 invalids at St. Rita's Nursing Home died.
Hardly, but Bush has realized that stubborn denial coupled with boyish mannerisms aren't enough when we can see the bodies floating in black water and feel the misery of people who trusted the government to help them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-carlson15sep15,0,3539272.column
Kuwait Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah Hands $25 Million Check to Former U.S. Presidents Co-Chairing Katrina Fund
9/15/2005 4:53:00 PM
To: National Desk
Contact: Dr. Fatma Al-Khalifa of the Kuwait Information Office, 202-338-021l ext. 210 or 207 or kio@kuwait-info.org
NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /U.S. Newswire/ -- This morning Kuwait's Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah presented former President George Herbert Walker Bush and former President Bill Clinton a $25 million (US dollars) check for the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. The check was the first payment toward fulfilling the State of Kuwait's historic $500 million (USD) pledge toward post-Katrina relief and reconstruction.
This pledge is the largest such gift to date, and today the first part of it was presented by the Prime Minister on behalf of Kuwait's Emir or leader, Shaikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. The size and swiftness of Kuwait's pledge caused President Clinton to express "profound appreciation" to Kuwait, saying that the donation testifies to "the depth of relationships" between the two countries.
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=53444
DeLay's Sick Joke
Leadership: When House Majority Leader Tom DeLay declared "ongoing victory" over spending and suggested there's nothing much left to cut, we thought he was kidding. As it turns out, he wasn't. So the joke's on us.
Perhaps it's a sign of Washington's corrupting influence on someone who seemed like a pretty common-sense guy. But DeLay's comments beggar the imagination.
Does he really think nothing else can be cut from a budget that's exploded in recent years? Does he really believe the GOP, the party in power since 1995, has been a good steward of the public's scarce resources, when you look at 2005 spending and see nearly 14,000 individual pork projects totaling $27.3 billion?
http://www.investors.com/editorial/IBDArticles.asp?artsec=20&issue=20050915
Why the Leak Probe Matters
For all the complexities of the Valerie Plame case, this story is about how easy it was to get into Iraq, and how hard it will be to get out.
By Jonathan Alter
July 25 issue - Like a lot of President Bush's critics, I supported the Iraq war at first. Because of the evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction laid out by Colin Powell, I agreed that we needed to disarm Saddam Hussein. I even think it's possible that 25 years from now, historians will conclude that the Iraq war helped accelerate the modernizing of the Middle East, even if it doesn't fully democratize it.
But if that happens, Bush might not get as much credit as he hopes, and not just because most historians, as Richard Nixon liked to say, are liberals. Bush may look bad because his leadership on Iraq has been a fiasco. He didn't plan for it: the early decisions that allowed the insurgency to get going were breathtakingly incompetent. He didn't pay for it: Bush is the first president in history to cut taxes during a war, this one now costing nearly $1 billion a week. And most important of all, he didn't tell the American people the truth about it: taking a nation to war is the most solemn duty of a president, and he'd better make certain there's no alternative and no doubt about the evidence.
http://www.wnymedia.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&Itemid=35
Bush Corporate Government Seizes Katrina Opportunity
By Greg Tarpinian
Related Stories: Capitalism
9-15-05, 8:36 am
With people still stranded on rooftops and bodies floating in the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration did what it has always done best: it moved with lightning speed to dole out lucrative contracts to private corporations.
The corporate community has always understood that its interests come first in the nation created by the Bush administration. Stock prices for Halliburton and Baker Hughes soared when the levees broke in New Orleans. Helicopters were in the air assessing the damage to oil rigs while people below were drowning in their homes.
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/1843/1/120/
Editorial: Corporate looters
Shaw Group, Fluor, Bechtel, Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR are flocking like vultures to feast on the $62 billion or more in federal contracts to rebuild the region devastated by Hurricane Katrina. These “no bid” contracts are nothing less than a looting of the public till.
Bush is sweetening the pot by suspending the Davis-Bacon Act for the region. The act requires contractors to pay the prevailing wage for any project funded by the federal government. The savings will flow into the coffers of these huge corporations, all heavy contributors to the Bush-Cheney campaigns and the Republican Party.
Already, KBR has grabbed a $500 million Pentagon contract to clean up damage done to Navy shipyards in Mississippi. Shaw was granted a $100 million to build temporary housing for some of the million homeless victims of Katrina. FEMA refuses to release any details on how these contracts have been negotiated.
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7729/1/286
Workers to sample nuclear hot spot
Radioactive site set for excavation after testing
By FRANK MUNGER, munger@knews.com
September 15, 2005
OAK RIDGE - Workers will take samples from a troublesome hot spot next month in hopes of excavating the radioactive site - smack dab in the middle of Oak Ridge National Laboratory - next summer.
Bechtel Jacobs Co. plans to remove an empty 4,000-gallon waste tank and 200 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil from an area associated with the lab's early nuclear operations. Bechtel Jacobs is the U.S. Department of Energy's environmental manager in Oak Ridge.
Officials said they hope the cleanup will eliminate an environmental hazard that's been under study for more than a decade.
The project is sometimes referred to as Corehole 8. That's a reference to a test well drilled years ago that identified an underground plume of radioactive materials in the groundwater not far from the lab's cafeteria.
An attempt to remove the old tank in 2001 was called off after workers encountered unexpectedly high radiation fields during the digging.
John Owsley, the state's environmental oversight chief in Oak Ridge, said the area contains a number of radioactive elements, including plutonium, americium, curium, uranium, cesium and strontium.
The fact that nuclear waste is in contact with the groundwater in the middle of the ORNL complex is unacceptable, he said.
"The state's position is that the material should be in a geologic repository," Owsley said.
Some of the excavated materials will be transported to New Mexico for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
The underground tank at ORNL was used decades ago to hold nuclear fuel leftover from reactor tests. The fuel mix was drained in the 1980s and put into cans for storage in the adjacent Building 3019-A.
According to a report by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, "The contaminated soil resulted from leakage from a damaged joint in feed piping to the tank."
During the aborted cleanup effort four years ago, radiation was measured at levels as high as 20 rads per hour, board staffers reported. They said safety controls are being developed for the upcoming sampling program to limit the radioactivity of materials brought to the surface at any one time.
Owsley said DOE, as part of the Federal Facilities Agreement in Oak Ridge, is required to submit plans in January 2006 that will outline the cleanup activities and disposal of nuclear wastes.
"We expect them to begin excavation in May," the state official said. "We've been working on this for quite some time."
Although the location and extent of the contamination is a concern, Owsley said the situation is stable at present.
"The contaminated soil was covered in such a way that it didn't continue to leach into the environment," he said.
Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, said workers plan to sample soils around the tank in early October to better characterize what radioactive isotopes are present and their concentrations.
Those samples will help determine where the excavated wastes will be disposed, Hill said.
The so-called transuranic wastes, long-lived radioactive materials such as plutonium and americium, will be sent to WIPP, a deep-underground waste repository. The radioactive materials categorized as low-level waste will be transported to the nuclear landfill on DOE's Oak Ridge reservation.
Senior writer Frank Munger may be reached at 865-342-6329.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4081489,00.html
Refugee’ vs. ‘evacuee’: Words do hurt
Delores MCCain
The effects of Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster, has the whole world talking. And it appears there is enough blame to go around, particularly when it comes to our U.S. government. In addition to the people of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama becoming victims of this natural disaster, another nightmare began after the hurricane passed out of the gulf coast. People of the gulf states were now being referred to as "refugees," as if they were not American citizens.
http://austinweeklynews.1upsoftware.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=3&ArticleID=316&TM=46285.03
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