Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 9

Reno Evening Gaz PHONE 323-3161 RENO, NEVADA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1973 NINE Carson River mercury problem traced "There is no doubt that mercury from century-old milling operations of the Comstock Lode is being released into the Carson," Richins said. "The significance of this release, however, is uncertain," ment and aquatic organisms is imperative." Richins, who obtained his bachelors degree from the College of Idaho in 1970 and his masters earlier this year from UNR, said he started researching the project in 1970, with sampling in 1972. He is trained in pollution ecology, pesticide analysis and intends to pursue environmental planning, if he can find an appropriate position with an organization. He hopes to have his work published in a scientific journal. jiiii i iiiwju ii mum iiimMmemaminnuiw hi wmm WM he said, adding "additional long-range monitoring of water, sedi CHURCHILL COUNTY STOREY COUNTY LAIIOIJTAIJ CITY DAYTON VIRGINIA lvASHCE 0 DOUGLAS COUNTY CITY Substitute for gasoline Geneal Motors public relations representative Randy Lund shows how light can propel a model "moon rover." He will be presenting his science show at school assemblies in the Reno area for the rest of the month.

(Gazette Photo) LYOIJ COUNTY By JOHN A READ A University of Nevada, Reno graduate student who wanted to study a thesis topic in pollution and ecology has discovered levels of mercury in fish taken from the Carson River and La-hontan Reservoir which apparently exceed recommended federal tolerance levels. Robert T. Richins, an environmental biologist, said, however, there is nothing that can be done about the problem, short of warning fishermen not to make a steady diet of fish especially white bass from the river. MOST COMPLETE Richins' study is believed to be the most complete study of mercury in the water, sediment and fish of the Carson River system, and is a classic case of the environmental sins of earlier generations being visited upon later ones. The source of the mercury, which was more than five times the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration's 0.50 parts per million (ppm) tolerance level in a single white bass, is deposits of the material left over from pre-1900 gold and silver milling operations. According to Richins, the mer cury was used as an amalgam to separate gold and silver from mined ore. No attempt was made by miners to recover the mercury, which "ran back into the river and settled into the bottom," Richins said. Now under half a foot of sedi ment, the mercury is not directly responsible for the contamination, but reacts with bac teria in the water to form a mercury compound, methyl mercury. IN FOOD CHAIN The bacteria is carried in the water and ingested by fish.

The mercury settles in the fish's vital organs and eventually becomes part of the food chain. Mercury, like DDT, is passed along from animal to animal and to the environment in increasing concentrations through the natural processes of eating, waste elimination, and decay. Richins tested water and sediment along with fish. He found average levels of mercury in sediment and above average levels of mercury but levels were below levels considered safe. The mercury seen in the fish, however, may be another story.

Richins said mercury poisoning would not result from eating one fish with a level of mer ool program Sampling location area lator." Lund's practiced which took him to learn, elicited a responses from the This map shows where University of Nevada, Reno, graduate researcher Robert T. Richins studied mercury levels in the Carson River. Sites included (1) New Brunswick Canyon bridge; (2) Eureka millsite; (3) Dayton, below the Dayton bridge; (4) below Break-A-IIeart Ranch cast of Dayton; and (5) Lahontan Reservoir. GM sch shown "It's probably like something you'd find in the school cafeteria here," Randy Lund, 24-year old General Motors public relations representative, told more than 2,000 students at Reno High School Friday. To the accompaniment of cheers, Lund was describing a foamlike substance which he formed from the combination of two liquid chemicals during a program sponsored by GM called "Previews of Progress." The show is presented to try to stimulate students' interest in industry, Lund said before his 45-minue presentation.

Lund said he. had found through talks with professionals there is a shortage of engineers in industry. Lund bore out his statement during the assembly by calling attention to the number of jobs which will be made available through research in energy needs, automotive safety, consumer synthetic products and other fields. "Previews" attempts to interest students' in industry by per Plumas County, Nevada sites reveal ancient man cury such as he found, but a steady diet might cause problems. There have been no cases of mercury poisoning from fish in the river reported to health officials, Richins said.

Mercury affects the central nervous system and can dissolve brain cells, causing blindness and other problems. Earlv symptoms include dizziness and loss of coordination. Richins said no measures can be taken to stop the contamina tion, an disturbing the mercury only increases the bacterial ac tion. He said the only possibility mignt De use of a compound to prevent bacterial contamina tion. TAKE TIME "It's something that's going to have to work itself out in time," the 26-year-old former Idaho resident said.

Richins studies showed that rather than decrease as one might expect, mercury concentrations increased the farther away from the mill site the samples were taken. This is be lieved due to the food chain concentration phenomenon. Highest mercury levels were found in fish from the Lahontan Reservoir. Concentrations were generally affected by the size of the fish (the larger the fish, the greater the concentration) by the fish species' relative spot on the food chain compared with other fish, and by river flows Richins study was preceded by mercury studies by the State health Division, the U.S. Geo logical Survey and by the U.S Fublic Health Service.

The surveys found no health problems Earlier surveys did not, however, test fish life extensively, Richins found earlier data on the Carson River system to be "sparse and inconclusive," with no attempt to correlate the sys tem sediment content with the mercury levels in fish." Richins said projected in creases of population in the Carson Basin could have a sig nificant impact on the mercury problem, as mercury ends up in disposed waste dumped into rivers. WHERE FOUND Mercury, he said, is found in paper products, cosmetics, discarded pharmaceutical prod ucts, runoff from lawn and gar den fungicides, and elsewhere. Increases in population will result in increased amounts of sewage to be treated and probably an increase in mercury in the already mercury-rich Carson River, Richins believes. feature strolling musicians, a rock band, and dancing. It is open to the public.

Fifteen hundred persons are expected to attend the Sunday night event. Chamber promotion director Ron Smith said the chamber hopes to be able to decorate the downtown area and Park Lane with Italian flags and decorations. ssssss'J by Dr. Thomas Layton, a Ne vada State Museum archaeol ogist regarded as an authority on the history of man in the Great Basin, a huge area en compassing Nevada, Utah, and parts cf California and Ore gon. The excavation turned up the cooked bones of domestic ani mals, including livestock which had had their skulls broken open to extract the brains, a known Indian technique.

Wooden stakes, used to stretch hides across the floor for drying, were recovered, along with a piece of glass from a bottle made by a company which went out of business in 1917. According to museum of ficials, the white man's assaults across Northern Nevada in the early 1900s deprived the Indians of lands and food sources. In dians turned to rustling cattle and horses for food. Layton said researchers un EXPLANATION in Reno forming some visually spectacular experiments, including: Making synthetic rubber materials by mixing liquid chemicals; Demonstrating the value of seat belts through use of a model sled containing model men, ejected from the sled as they impact a barrier at a simulated 25 mph. Sliding across the floor on a model hovercraft, a device which rides on a cushion of air.

Showing how a gyroscope keeps spacecraft and airplanes on steady course through a suitcase containing a gyroscope which refused to be swung in a straight line by student Dennis Cunningham. Use of solar cells to power a model unmanned lunar rover. Startup of a miniature gas turbine engine, demonstrating use of the engine to power heavy duty vehicles. Screening of a low-powered laser beam to illustrate effect of sounds on light beams through an oscilloscope "trans- planned said construction should begin about Nov. 1 with completion scheduled for early summer 1974.

Morris said the project would involve construction of an 11- story building and another four- tory building connected by a passageway. He said the hotel will contain 300 enclosed parking spaces, a restaurant and the hotel lobby. No gaming is con templated at this time, he said. The project is being developed by Lake Tahoe Inn H.K.M. of South Lake Tahoe.

Morris said a contractor for the job has not been hired yet. PERMIT APPLICATION City Chief Building Inspector Joe Mastrioanni said the deve lopers have made application to them for a building permit. The city is checking blueprints prior to issuing the permit. Spokesmen for the developers could not be reached. CAF.P New Reno hote FALLOW RESERVOIR SAMPLE SITE AND KILOMETER! C.Z sites covered a layer of freshwater mussel shells, indicating that "the cave had been much more heavily used by man in pre historic times than even during the Indians' last stand there." He said radiocarbon dating demonstrated the Indians who occupied the cave about 10,000 years ago harvested river mussels from a nearby creek.

Stone scrapers and projectile points were recovered that until now had been seen only on the ancient beach terraces of Great Basin Lakes, now vanished. Artifacts in the cave were especially preserved because of the cave's dryness, which prevented deterioration of netting, arrow shafts with feathers and human feces, which could be dated. The exploration, Layton said, means a "tremendous stride toward completing the picture of man's early development in the Great Basin." own housing would go a long way towards solving the problem. Nixon's program would be a potential substitute for public housing projects. The payments would be used to make up the difference between what a family can afford and the cost of adequate housing in a particular area.

The Reno Housing Authority has been plagued in recent months by financial problems caused by a cutback in federal housing funds. Mrs. Birch said she was unsure whether the President's proposal would help the authority. She said without additional information on how the proposal would be administered, it is impossible to make a statement on its effect. Earlier this summer, the Reno City Council voted to give the authority $102,000 to help ease the financial crisis at the agency which administers public housing for low income families in Washoe County.

WAIVED PAYMENT The council also waived a payment the authority usually make in lieu of property taxes on its buildings. Mrs. Birch said the authority is "not hurting right now. We're holding our own, but we're not holding our breath for next year." SUCKER CRAYFISH SHINER W.BASS -0-X 2.0 B. BULLHEAD V.

CATFISH dialogue, a month variety of students, who reacted excitedly to Lund's successful attempt to bounce raw egg off the rubber "cake" he had created. After the performance, Lund said the demonstrations, includ ing some on water pollution which had to be left out because of time, are available free of charge to organizations. Lund said he can speak on everything from minority rights at General Motors to automotive safety. He will be in Reno until the end of the month. Lund, a bachelor, said he had been giving the.

demonstration for 16 months. He said employes in the program spend two years, then may move into positions with GM in public relations or other fields. There are five teams who cov er the United States every 4-5 years, Lund said. He said the shows are completely indepern-dent and the members of the teams do all their own booking. Lund said a weekly report to GM is his only contact with Detroit.

A resident of Birmingham, Lund said he majored in business and economics at Central Michigan University, and "here I am giving a science lecture." He said he had no specific plans following his stint on the Previews circuit. GM pays Lund about $10,000 a year for putting on the show. He said the company also picks up travel expenses, including lodging. When he came out of college Lund said, he was "inclined to think of GM as a big He said the tour had shown him the "benefits of big busi- ness," and saw himself as "the only spokesman (for GM) a lot of people will talk to." Student reaction to the dem onstrations was typified by se nior students Tori Brown, 16 and Lorna Yohey, 17. The seniors especially liked the laser beam demonstration and the hovercraft.

When they heard about the assembly, Miss Brown said she "went in expecting to sleep through it. But it was really interesting." ing. Players armed with wooden balls attempt to roll the balls as close as possible to a steel ball located at the end of a 60-foot court. Players may move offensively by knocking an opponent's ball away from the steel ball. An Italian opera presented by the Nevada Opera Guild is planned for Saturday night, 1.3 0.5 Federal housing plan weighed Completed or continuing ar chaeological excavations in Nevada and California are reveal ing information about Indian life before the advance of the white man early this century.

Artifacts recovered in an ex cavation done to allow construc tion of a new recreation facility adjacent to Frenchman Reservoir on the Milford Ranger Dis-trit in the Plumas National Forest are being examined to determine what Indian tribe lived there. The shallow Frenchman site yielded projectile points, flakes, scraping tools and grinding stones. Artifacts were collected by the Cultural Resources Se- tion of the California Department of Parks and Rereation, which is storing the finds. Construction of a 65-unit Big Cove Campground may now pro ceed as planned, with five fish erman access areas scheduled for constrution this year. SECRET SITE A site in Nevada, being kept seret because of the possibility of vandalism by curiosity seek ers, is expected to yield val uable information for at least another three months.

Termed "The Last Supper Cave," the location in the far northern part of the state is believed to have been one of the final refuges for the Indians Excavations on the dig have revealed the same cave was used by prehistoric man some 10,000 years ago. The discovery is seen as a "significant link in the long chain of man's his tory in the Great Basin," according to Don Tuopy, curator of the Nevada State Museum. The investigation is directed in Reno Merchants in the downtown area will promote an Italian theme in their businesses during the weekend. "The idea is to have the entire town thinking Italian," Smith said. Ed Giannotti, Italian vice consul of Reno, said a group he represents has been mak- 1 1 1 1 I 2-3 4 5 SAMPLING location Mercury level This is a graph of mercury levels, in parts per million, related to sampling sites and fish species.

The highest mark was the with a level five times the recommended federal tolerance. project By MIKE REED Plans for a $4 million 349-room hotel at the northeast corner of Arlington Avenue and Fourth Street were confirmed Friday by the project architect. The location is the site of old Central Junior High School which was torn down a few years ago. BY SUMMER Bill Morris of Melvin List architects in Carmichael, Free concert set Sunday at university A free concert featuring sounds ranging from the big bands of the 20s to the rock of the 70s will be presented Sunday afternoon on the quad of. the University of Nevada, Reno.

Unidentified folk and rock groups will perform from noon to 3 p.m., with Al Sahy and the of the 70s scheduled to 4:30, Shay said -The performances are sponsored by drug rehabiliation groups in the area to demon strate the varieties of music, Shay said. 4 Shav group secializes single engagements, and plans a series ot tree concerts in local elementary and junior high schools. It also will play for university alumni at a dance scheduled Oct. 27 at the Elks Club. Nevada Road Toll This year to dale: 197 Last year to date: 195 'Think Italian festival coming up It's too early to assess the effect a proposal by President Nixon to give housing payments directly to the needy might have on the Reno Housing Authority, Director Myra Birch said Friday.

Earlier this week Nixon termed the federal government "the biggest slumlord in his tory. He said his proposal to give cash payments to poor fam ilies so they could find their Oct. 6-7 ing plans for the festival for several months. SCHOOL CONTESTS Special poster and theme contests are planned for Washoe County Schools. Columbus Day will be observed on Monday, Oct.

8 as a city holiday. Gov. Mike O'Callaghan declared the day a state holiday. All government departments except the police and fire departments will be closed that day, although City Manager Joe Latimore has instructed all departments to insure employes are available for emergency duty. The regular city council meeting scheduled for Oct.

8 has been postponed until Oct. 9. Oct. 6. A mass and communion will be held at Pioneer Theatre Auditorium Sunday at 10 a.m.

There will be a continental breakfast following the service. FAMILY BANQUET A family-style Italian banquet and ball will be held Sunday night at Centennial Coliseum. The banquet will By PAM GALLOWAY Plans for a three-day Columbus Day celebration, Italian style, are being made by the Greater Reno Chamber of Commerce and representatives of Reno's Italian community. The festival, which is on Oct. 6 and 7, is being promoted throughout Northern California as well as Reno.

Tour packages from the San Francisco area to Reno will be available to Italian groups. Scheduled events include bocce ball contests which will be held all day Saturday. Teams from California and Reno will compete. TRADITIONAL GAME Bocce ball, a traditional Italian game, is similar to bowl.