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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Envirocare dumps Barstow waste site plan
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, January 30, 2001 - Envirocare of Texas has abandoned its plans
to build a low-level radioactive waste storage site northeast of Barstow,
and will be leaving the state and taking their "business" elsewhere, the
company announced on Monday.
"We will be closing the Andrews and Monahans offices, but will leave
the Austin office open for now," said Envirocare president Charles Judd
from the company's Utah offices.
Envirocare had filed applications with the Texas Department of Health
and the Texas Natural Resource Commission to open a long-term nuclear waste
storage facility in Ward County and a mixed waste processing facility in
Andrews.
The Andrews site was built after Dallas-based Waste Control Specialists
opened a similar site to store hazardous waste in far western Andrews County,
near Eunice, N.M. After Envirocare announced plans for their site just
to the southeast, WCS filed a billion-dollar antitrust lawsuit against
Envirocare of Texas and its sister company, Envirocare of Utah, in 1997.
In April of last year, Envirocare owner Khosrow Semnani in the U.S.
District Court for Utah filed a defamation lawsuit against WCS; a move
that came five months after Envirocare announced its plan to locate a radioactive
waste storage site in Ward County.
An agreement to settle both lawsuits was reached in late November.
Judd said that terms of the agreement could not be disclosed and would
not comment on whether the decision to leave Texas was part of that agreement.
The offices in Monahans and Andrews will be closed within the next couple
of weeks, according to Judd.
"We have representatives in West Texas today, to start the process,"
said Judd.
The procedure will take awhile, but the process will begin immediately.
"We'll start closing it down immediately and we have already started to
make those arrangements," said Judd.
While both Envirocare and WCS originally planned to only store hazardous
non-radioactive waste at their Andrews sites, both companies began seeking
to store low-level radioactive waste there, after a site near Sierra Blanca
in Hudspeth County was rejected in December 1998 by the Texas Natural Resources
Conservation Commission and then-Gov. George W. Bush. Earthquake fault
lines in the mountains of West Texas were cited as the reason for rejecting
the Sierra Blanca site, while officials from Mexico objected to the location,
15 miles from the Rio Grande.
Envirocare began looking for a location outside of Andrews County after
a report was issued by University of Texas geologists in the spring of
1999 which indicated both the Envirocare and WCS sites in Andrews County
were above part of the Ogallala Aquifer, making them unsuitable for storing
radioactive waste.
Envirocare began looking at sites in Ward County that were not above
an aquifer in the summer of 1999 and in November of that year settled on
land owned by rancher John Forrester, which was located eight miles northeast
of Barstow and 14 miles northeast of Pecos.
Monahans officials were hoping to gain about 30 jobs from the site,
though it would be twice as far away as Pecos. Envirocare opened its Monahans
office last April and had also promised to donate five percent of its profits
from the Barstow area site to Ward County.
Although Pecos ambulance and other emergency service personnel serve
the Barstow area, Ward County Judge Sam Massey said last year his county
had no plans to share any of its money from Envirocare with Pecos or Reeves
County.
Reeves County Judge Jimmy B. Galindo was in Austin last Friday to meet
with the representatives of Texas Gov. Rick Perry, along with other state
representatives to explain the county's opposition to the Envirocare site.
"I met with Warren Chisum, state representative, about concentrating
our efforts in making sure a radioactive waste disposal or management facility
will not be located adjacent to Reeves County," said Galindo.
Galindo said that there's absolutely no question that Reeves County
does not want to become a dumping ground for the rest of the country.
"We have made it very clear since the last legislative session in 1999,"
said Galindo. "The news that Envirocare is pulling out of Texas is welcome
news and good for Reeves County."
Reeves County Commissioners passed a resolution last year in opposition
to the site, and while Envirocare's plans have been shelved, Galindo said,
"We have to be cautious as this essentially develops in the Texas Legislature."
He said that he had proposed to two representatives in the State Legislature
was the creation an environmentally safe zone of about 40-50 miles on both
sides of the Pecos River.
"This environmentally safe zone would be meeting the spirit of the La
Paz agreement," said Galindo. "The La Paz agreement was a side agreement
to the North American trade agreement between the United States and Mexico."
Specifically, La Paz required that the U.S. not locate hazardous disposal
sites within 60 miles of the Rio Grande.
"I proposed to (State Rep.) Gary Walker and (State Sen.) Frank Madla
that with regard to the Pecos River as a tributary of the Rio Grande, we
would like to establish an environmentally safe zone and link it with the
agreement of the La Paz agreement," said Galindo.
The La Paz agreement is a side agreement to NAFTA, according to Galindo.
"This agreement will protect Reeves County and adjacent counties to
the Pecos River and meet the spirit of the federal agreement to U.S. and
Mexico. "I asked Walker and Madla to support this bill and to put in an
agreement to protect Reeves County and the adjacent counties," he said.
"This is not a time to stop or retreat," said Galindo.
Galindo said the next step was to create an environmentally safe zone.
Blowing dust delays traffic south of town
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, January 30, 2001 - People traveling from Balmorhea to Pecos on
Highway 17 Monday discovered they would have a long wait to complete their
trip as Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) closed one lane of the
highway due to high winds and blowing dust.
Public Information Officer for TxDOT's Odessa District, Glen Larum,
said that the 45-mph winds blew dust across the highway, creating visibility
problems.
At 2:45 p.m., TxDOT closed a 20-mile section of highway from Pecos to
Farm-to-Market 2448 for about an hour.
"We closed it totally for about an hour," he said.
Larum said they did not want to continue having the highway shut down
but also did not want to have two lanes open leaving a better possibility
of accidents.
"We thought it was important to keep traffic moving," he said.
Larum said the visibility was so poor that having two lanes open would
create an opportunity for accidents to happen if someone were to try and
pass another vehicle.
"We didn't want to create those kinds of opportunities," he said.
Blowing dust conditions forced TxDOT crews to close Highway 17 twice
last year, the first time following a multiple-vehicle accident that included
a Balmorhea ISD school bus.
To prevent a repeat of last year's problem while getting traffic through
the blowing dust area, TxDOT decided to open one lane of traffic and lead
a line of cars through the area with a "pilot car" at about 3:45 p.m.
Larum explained that the "pilot car" would lead a line of cars from
Pecos to FM 2448 between Verhalen and Saragosa and then turn around and
lead another line of cars back to town.
"This is the first time we've done this," he said.
Normally when conditions are this extreme, Larum said TxDOT would just
shut down the highway but they decided to keep the traffic moving.
Larum said that the system worked with the maximum of 20 cars waiting
in line for the escort.
"There was only one accident that was during the `pilot car' time,"
he said.
Larum explained that on one of the runs, the second to last car in line
had very nearly came to a stop or did stop and the car behind it ran into
the vehicle.
There were no injuries resulting from that accident.
TxDOT reopened that portion of Highway 17 at about 5:30 p.m.
Larum said that it was an unusual day for TxDOT's Odessa district.
"At one end we warned people of snow and ice and the other end was blowing
dust," he said.
Galindo, Owens disagree on accounting system
By SMOKEY BRIGGS
Staff Writer
PECOS, January 30, 2001 - Reeves County Judge Jimmy Galindo wants to
implement an additional accounting system at the Reeves County Detention
Center (RCDC).
Galindo said that the proposed system would give him a better day-to-day
picture of the prison's finances.
County Auditor Lynn Owens disagrees.
"It's a complete waste of money and time," Owens said. "If this system
were going to do what they think it will, it would be great _ but I don't
think it will."
The topic was one of four items on the agenda at yesterday's special
meeting of the commissioner's court.
Galindo asked for, and received, the court's nod of approval to solicit
a contract for professional services from the accounting firm of Speer
and Murray to investigate implementing an accrual-based accounting system.
Galindo said he expected the consultation to cost the county less than
$10,000.
"Probably (it will cost) between five and eight thousand dollars," he
said.
Currently, Reeves County uses a cash-based system for accounting. Owens
explained that with a cash-based system, money is not counted until it
is received or a check is written.
With an accrual-based system money is counted when an account is billed,
or when merchandise is ordered.
Galindo said that the accrual system would give him a more accurate
day-to-day knowledge of the prison's finances.
"It is becoming increasingly difficult to make the calls on (when to
pay) purchase orders," Galindo said. Galindo explained that it was hard
to know what orders to authorize when he did not have the most accurate
picture of the county's immediate finances.
"I understand that if you could get this information it would be a tremendous
help," Owens said, "But this is not going to do what they think it will
do. What the Judge wants is to be able to look at a line item in the budget
and see everything that has been charged against that line item.
"To actually implement that system will be very cumbersome. Every item
you purchase will have to be entered into the system whether it is actually
received or not. Requisitions are not perfect. Freight charges change,
items end up back ordered or simply not delivered."
Owens said that under the proposed system, for the information to be
accurate, each purchase will have to adjusted as the details are sorted
out, such as freight charges, non-shipment, and back orders.
"It will take a lot of maintenance to do the necessary adjustments,"
Owens said, "And the adjustments will need to be made every day."
Owens also said that the new system would not affect his ability to
audit the prison's finances as a part of the county.
According to Owens the county uses a financial software package named
Apollo to keep the county's books.
Galindo's proposal makes use of the same software package using the
accrual method rather than the cash method.
Galindo estimated that it would cost about $40,000 to purchase and implement
the software.
In other business the commissioners approved a $130,000 payment to Banes
General Contractors for work completed on the RCDC expansion project, and
a $14,000 payment to DRG Architects for remodeling work on the Support
Services building at the prison.
In the final order of business the court decided to spend an extra $12,600
to use glass on the back walls of the ongoing racquetball court project.
Galindo said that the glass would be a valuable feature allowing for
better safety and tournament play with staff and referees being able to
see what was going on in each court.
Balmorhea ISD plans meeting for Thursday
PECOS, January 30, 2001 - Balmorhea ISD will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in
the Balmorhea ISD Board Room.
The group will meet behind closed doors to discuss the superintendent's
evaluation.
During the open part of the meeting board members will discuss the superintendent's
formal evaluation results.
Obituaries
Manuel Gonzales and Arlene Hill
Weather
PECOS, January 30, 2001 - High Monday 53. Low this morning 32. Weekend
precipitation at Texas A&M Experiment Station: .41 inch. Forecast for
tonight: Partly cloudy. Low around 25. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph. Wednesday:
Partly cloudy. High 45 to 50. North to northeast wind 10 to 20 mph, diminishing
to 5 to 10 mph during the afternoon. Wednesday night: Partly cloudy. Low
20 to 25. Thursday: Partly cloudy. High around 50.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
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Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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