The Montgomery Advertiser from Montgomery, Alabama • 31

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. 1984 AROUND Gasoline Leak Contaminates Shallow Aquifer AU Chief Meets with Faculty Hears Suggestions For Reorganization By CHUCK CHANDLER Advertiser Staff Writer AUBURN Auburn University By MIKE WILLIAMS Advertiser Staff Writer A gasoline leak at the Chevron U.S.A. Inc. storage terminal in Montgomery apparently contaminated a groundwater aquifer located about 20 feet underground, company officials said Monday. -j -ot Chevron workers J.B.

George, with shovel, John Gallagher to help monitor gasoline leak Selma TV Station To Get New Name and Territory Wallace Helps Open Market By GERRIANNE PLANT Advertiser Staff Writer With a silver shovel for bis plow. Gov. George C. Wallace broke ground for a $5.5 million state farmers market in Montgomery Monday. "I want to thank the slim majority hi the Legislature who helped get this thing through by the skin of its teeth," the governor said.

"This is a great day for the state." Supporters say the market may eventually grow Into a $10 million business and provide about 2S0 jobs. Wallace wu joined by federal, state, and local officials at the future site of the farmers' market on Federal Drive at Coliseum Boulevard. Others attending included: Agriculture Commissioner Albert McDonald; U.S. Senator Howell Heflin, Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar; and Alabama Farm Bureau President Goodwin Myrick. Construction of the farmers' market is scheduled to begin In November and be completed by the fall or winter of 1985.

The project will be funded with nearly 84 million of a $8 million bond sale approved by the Legislature in the 1984 regular session. The remainder of the bond money will be used for repairs to Garrett Coliseum. The U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration also has approved a fl.S million Public Works Grant for the market. Sale of the state bonds is scheduled to begin next month.

Folmar Welcomes Market Mayor Emory Folmar welcomed the market to Montgomery, saying "agriculture is one industry we cannot do without" McDonald said the market will provide about 250 jobs, but many 200 additional jobs may be created on farms supplying the market with products. "As a farmer, I know the importance of having a market for my commodity," McDonald said, "and I'm glad to see this facility become a reality and provide a needed service for Alabama farmers." The agriculture commissioner, a Madison County farmer, said the state has never bad a facility where farmers could sell produce to consumers, grocers and produce companies year-round. Initial commercial sales at the market are expected to total $8-10 million. The market also is expected to generate about 1145,000 each year In state and local taxes. Myrick of Farm Bureau said the market will help many famers who have become dependent on one cash crop.

"Many farmers who were once responding to a need are hurting now," he said. ALABAMA FBI Arrests Bahamian on Coke Charges FBI agenti have arrested the ion of a Bahamian senator on charge! that be possessed about two pounds of cocaine while be wu in Alabama, according to Eddie Bazar, special agent in charge of Montgomery'! FBI office. Paul Maynard, who Bazar laid is in his late Ki, was arrested Sept 18 In Atlanta's Hartsfield Airport Assistant U.S. Attorney Diaries Truncate said Maynard is in custody in Douglas, pending an arraignment bearing before a U.S. magistrate in Montgomery.

Federal investigators believe that Maynard Is the son of Bahamian Sen. Dub Maynard and the nephew of mian cabinet member Clement May-, nard. In an affidavit outlining charges 'against Maynard, FBI Special Agent John Mulligan said investigator! I teamed from an informant that May-; sard allegedly delivered a kilogram of cocaine in September 1983 in Alabama and had said be could deliver up to SO kilogram! of "high-quality" cocaine. Truncate also said that investigators had recovered some of the cocaine allegedly transported by Maynard and were In possession of a tape-recorded conversation in which Maynard offered to sell and deliver cocaine. Taiwan To Buy Beana Representatives of the trade council of Taiwan will visit Alabama October 1-10 to purchase 2 million bushels of This is Taiwan's second soybean purchase from the state.

Alabama sold $18 million in soybeans to the country In 1983. A contract-signing ceremony will be held at the Capitol. The Taiwanese delegates also plan to meet with several state officials. Pleads Innocent ELBA An Enterprise woman pleaded innocent Monday during arraignment proceedings in her retrial on a murder charge in connection with the 1981 death of her estranged hus band. La Donna Tucker, 37, entered her plea before Circuit Judge Riley Green.

Green apolnted Elba attorneys Bill Hammond and Debbie Jarred to defend Mrs. Tucker, whose trial Is to begin Oct 1. Mrs. Tucker wu convicted in 1982 of collaborating with brothers Douglas and Donald Ard to kill her husband in order to collect on a 870,000 life-insur ance policy. Both Ard men were convicted of murder and are serving life sentences, but the Alabama Supreme Court and the state Court of Criminal Appeals earlier this year overturned Mrs.

Tucker's conviction because of techni cal errors in the original trial. Trespassing Defined Public fishing or navigation of surface waters that are formed by the flooding of navigable rivers may constitute trespassing, according to an opinion issued by state Attorney Gen eral Charles Graddick. The public's right of use extends only to waters In the continuous flow of the stream, the opinion said. Graddick distinguished flood waters forming a continuous flow of the stream from those which form surface waters. Overflow waters continuing in general course, though without defined banks, Into the waterway from which they came are not considered surf act waters.

Graddick said. However, waters not continuing in the same general course or those spreading out in areas clearly separate from the normal channel are considered surface waters without the right of public navigation. Grant Announced S. Rep. Bill Dickinson, R-Motrt- goroery, announced Monday a 11.1 million federal grant to Alabama from the VJL Department of Interior! Office of Surface Mining.

"This grant will be used to regulate Surface effects of coal mining ea the state of Alabama," said Dickinson, who currently is running for re-elec tion. Nary Inspects Mobile MOBILE (AP) A seven-member (Mm of Nan officials arrived Mobile Monday to study the city as a potential home port for battleship group of four to six ships and tJOO The Navy Gulf Coast Homeportmg Study Team plans a tnree-aay stay mat knrhviM amueroiia meetincs with crfar officials and mspections of dry ser vices sod docks facilities. nthM- Mrta under consideration fav cbjde Corpus Galveston, New Orleans, Pensacou ana lampe. President James Martin said Monday be hopes to present a final reorganization plan to the board of trustees by mid-November, which would clear the way for accreditation in December. The reorganization of academic pro grams and administration has been Martin's top priority since coming to Auburn in February.

Such a reorganization also was suggested last year by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is considered essential to accreditation by SACS. Martin attended Monday's special meeting of the Auburn Faculty Senate, listening to suggestions for improving a report released nearly two months ago by a 10-member reorganlzatlonal committee. Martin appointed the committee In June and originally had hoped to com plete the report by August or Sep-temeber, but various groups asked for more time. More than 101 Responses Gerald Johnson, Faculty Senate chairman, said be received more than 100 responses, often representing entire departments, to questions about the first draft of the report Martin said be-was familiar with most of the responses to the preliminary report He said most dealt with clarification of the steps outlined by the reorganizational committee. "The suggestions In some cases strengthen the committee recommendations," said Martin.

"They are Identifying area! within the Institution that continue to need improvement" The president said he was not sur prised by the calm atmosphere of the one-hour faculty meeting, although past meetings have been loud and lengthy when reorganization wu debated. Martin said he believes many of the faculty questions of past months have been answered. He said the reorganiza tion proposals are easier to accept since the basis of the committee work wu a 1982-83 university self-study. Johnson said it hu been difficult for all segments of the university to understand the numerous changes proposed. He said students, faculty, alumni and adminstration often are unaware of the others' needs.

Central Admlnistratton Changes Johnson said many faculty responses concerned changes In central adminis tration, citing questions of responsibilities given proposed executives. fie said there is a concensus that the final version of reoganization include specified authorities of any new or upgraded administrative positions. See AFFIRMATIVE, page 2D ADEM Director Welcomes Public Pressure By MIKE WILLIAMS Advertiser Staff Writer Environmental mutators and in dustry must restore their credibility If the public is to believe the nation i hazardous-waste problems are being handled properly, the state's top en vironmental official said Monday. "Nothing makes public officials jump and do our Jobs faster than public pressure," Alabama Department of Environmental Management Director Joe Broadwater told the Montgomery Rotary Club. "The you don't put pressure on us is the day we stop doing our jobs, he said.

Broadwater told the club that a key part of the toxic-waste problem la the threat posed by hazardous waste to the nation's groundwater supplies. And a major problem facing gov ernmental regulators is Identifying old, often closed hazardous-waste disposal sites that may threaten groundwater supplies, be said. Many such sites were opened before regulators and industry knew of the dangers of hazardous waste, and many are located in areas with geological characteristics unsuitable for hazard ous-waste disposal he said. "Some of these old dumps were out-of -tight and out-of-mind," Broadwater aid. "We didn't do It that way to be criminal, we just didn know any better," he said of past attitudes held by Industry, regulator! and the public on the problem.

He called on the public to help regulators identify such sites, saying that ADEM does not have the staff. time or money to comb the state looking for abandoned dumps. Broadwater said another key to solving the nation's hazardous-waste problems Is to find solutions that are environmentally sound but also uomicallj feasible for industry. "If it is not economically feasible. It See BROADWATER, page ZD But the leak does not appear to i threaten two Montgomery Water Works and Sanitary Sewer Board drinking-water wells located near the facility, state and city officials said.

The city wells are more than 600 feet deep, and are separated from the contaminated shallow aquifer, or underground pool, by several layers of thick clays, water department officials said. "We're always concerned hi general about protecting our water supply, but there Is no cause for concern at this point," said Bill Oswalt, general manager of the water department Alabama Department of Environmental Management groundwater chief John Poole said he believes the leak does not pose an immediate danger to the city's water supply. "I don't think there's a whole lot of danger out there," Poole said. Chevron officials said Monday they believed the teak may have resulted from a spill of about 4,000 gallons discovered at the terminal in August The leak occurred because an above-ground valve at the site wu not properly capped, company officials said. No Signs of Tanks Leaking "There Is no indication of any leaks from tanks at the terminal," said A.D.

Cock, environmental coordinator for the company's southern marketing division. "Our records for the past several years show no missing inven tory of product Both state and city officials said they believe there are no private water wells In use in the area of the terminal. Poole said ADEM hu not received any calls from residents to the area who use private wells, but that contamination would be easy to detect in such wells. "Gasoline contamination Is obvious because with just a little bit you can smell it right away," he said. The company began digging several monitoring wells on property adjoining the terminal over the weekend after wells inside the terminal borders showed contamination, Cook said.

Company geologists nope by the end of the week to gather enough information about the flow of water In the shallow aquifer to begin formulating a plan for isolating and removing the contamination, he said. Hie company hu drilled over 20 wells on the terminal property, and plans 9 wells outside the borders of the property, be said. The outside wells are located along the rights-of-way for Hunter Loop and Well Roads, he said. ADEM, Water Works Helping "ADEM and the Water Works have been advised to our investigation and are working with us In locating the wells," Cook said. "Our efforts will continue until we can resolve the extent of the problem." Poole said a cleanup of the shallow aquifer could take several months.

Since gasoline floats on top of water, the company will try to pump the gasoline out of the aquifer without disturbing the water supply, he Mid. "No cleanup of groundwater is 100-percent effective," be said. "There will be traces left" ADEM spokeswoman Catherine See OFFICIALS, page 2D mm protested expanded news coverage, including 10 a.m. daily report, he said. WAKA sports director Ken White will move to the Montgomery news bureau, Singleton said.

The improvements were announced several years ago, but were delayed because of appeals by two Montgomery television stations that sought to block them. WCOV and WKAB both appealed the tower permit to the Federal Communications Commission, but the FCC rejected the complaints that the Montgomery television market area could not support a fourth station. The FCC approved the tower In May 1983, but the two Montgomery stations continued to appeal until a few months ago. "We could have kept it In court for another couple of years, but felt It would not be in our best interest to pursue it," said WCOV General Manager Karl Richards. Richards said his station's position about the new TV competition hu not changed.

"We don't fee it is correct for them to become a Montgomery station," be said. "However, we are not pursuing any additional litigation." WKAB General Manager John Rogers, who also said his station had abandoned its appeal, added there have been signs of a growing audience in recent months. "We've got better quality local programming along with ABCs strong network snows," he said. "These have helped increase our audience." rTi cVvv 1 4r ii By ALVTN BENN I Advertiser Staff Writer SELMA WSLA-TV cleared its final government hurdle Monday en route to a new name, tower and television facilities. The Dallu County Commission, on a unanimous vote, approved a 84.4 million industrial-development bond issue to provide funds for the station's improvements.

"We appreciate the commission's swift and positive action," said WSLA Vice President George Singleton, who attended the meeting Monday morning. "This is going to be a project that the city, county and region can be proud of." The station's plans had been approved by the Selma Industrial Development Board and the Lowndes County Commission. Singleton said a $2.5 million, tower will be built in the Gordonsville community of Lowndes County soon, expanding the station's signal from eight to 24 counties in central Alabama, including Montgomery County. He said the tower should be In place by the middle of November, with the expanded signal broadcasting by January. Singleton also said WSLA will become WAKA-TV on Oct 29.

The name change is to avoid confusion with WSFA-TV In Montgomery, he said. When the new tower is in place and remodeling is completed st the sta tion's Selma headquarters, viewers will see Improved programming and Student Rally Celebrates Dleck Schools By MAT LAMAR Advertiser Staff Writer "There is a scheme to destroy black colleges to banish them to toe dusty attics of history," Talledega College Student Body President Rockell Metcalf said Monday. Metcalfs remarks came at a demonstration on the Capitol steps by some 0 black college students from five state schools. The students, who took time off from classes at Alabama State University, Tuskegee Institute, Stmman, Miles and Talladega colleges were on hand to support annual Black College Day. The demonstration included singing, praying and speeches by a student from each of toe schools represented.

"We are toe future leaden of this land," said Metcalf, a senior majoring In biology. "Make way. America, for a flowing, rising, unchecked tide of black genius." The crowd echoed some of his phrases, much like crowds who See STUDENTS, page 2D I I CIjc co.t?t students rsHy Uondty at the Stale CtpitoJ budget cuts to black colleges.