The Journal Times from Racine, Wisconsin • 6

A IM Joornal Tim, Tvir, 0 A Hge MiVa usee's sewer case win aso. may benefit Racine area 3 emm mmmm fj-i i sr i-rtj ture in the courts. Then in 1K77 Chicago Federal Judge John Grady lowered the boom, ordering Milwaukee to carry out anti-pollution programs costing hundreds of millions of dollars. The cost seemed insurmountable. Federal aid in that quantity wasn't available and the city could hardly put it on the local property tax rolls.

Grady was much loo severe in his Judgment; he imposed pollution abatement standards on Milwaukee six times more stringent than those set by the Fnvironmental Protection Agency. The appeals court decision, if it isn't overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, will mean a savings of at least $240 million for Milwaukee area taxpayers. U'e also hope it will discourage Milwaukee planners from constructing a mammoth tunnel, seven miles long and 30 feel In diameter, about 300 feet under the Kir.nicklnnic River. "Food prices took another big Milwaukee recently won a significant battle lo Its nine-year legal war with the State of Illinois over pollution of Lake Michigan.

A federal court of appeals decided a lower court had ordered anti-pollution standards for Milwaukee that were far too stringent. In 1970 Illinois sued Milwaukee, South Milwaukee, Hacine and Kenosha, claiming those cities were contaminating the lake. It was a tangled, drawn-out struggle in which agreed in 1973 to dismiss the action against the smaller cities which had pledged firm, anti-pollution efforts. To Its credit, Racine followed through with a 113 million eipansion of the city's sewage treatment plant on the lakefront and also carried out extensive work to separate sanitary and storm sewers so contaminated water wouldn't enter the lake in a rain storm. Milwaukee clung stubbornly to a defensive pos Journal Ilnies Robrti MefWy Cenrrjf The proposed tunnel would serve as a holding area for overflow sewage during peak runoff periods, The se wage would be pumped out again for treatment and dis-posal at a later date.

Some Racine area officials have denounced the tunnel because of the possibility that sewage would leak out through cracks and crevices, flow toward Racine, poisoning wells and creating a pollution problem for this community. A belter alternative was proposed last week by the Milwaukee engineer who said construction of de-tendon basins or tanks might be the answer. Although dubbed ''surface detention," the tanks could be covered so the land above still could be used for parks, parking and other purposes. The tanks would be less costly than the $329 million tunnel and certainly less risky. The appeals court ruling has given the 27-square-mile combined sewer system in and around Milwaukee hope for a much more reasonable cost for aqtl-pollution measures.

Racine also may have benefited if it means the demise of that nightmarish tunnel idea. Goodbye to Westgate Bailing out 3-mile leap." the editor oology to make thee product tafet to um. What' to prevent frorr doing the tame with nuclear powei planit intiead of doting them dowt betaut of 'unwarranted fear?" Miller alto again advocate tlx trantfer to olar power, invoking Itw pint of NASA. Landing men on ir moon look over a decade; the twitcr to tolar poer will not eorpe quickly Rather, ll it a long term pro )rct. 30 yean or more down the road Right now It It Jutt not featible.

al though tcieniiitt are working to 1m plement It to sooner than projected. Other than thai, what other option it there betide nuclear power? Miller alo mention ihe "problem" of nuclear watte. In approximately 30 year. 1978 nuclear watte will become a potential threat. Between now and then, doein't II teem logical that we have enough brilliant cientut that tomehow ihe problem will be aolved before It come bock to haunt ut1 Which would you rather trut: American tclentitt or greedy Arab oil thelk who cannot talttfy Ihelr lutt for American money? Perhap both genilemen mltunder-stood my Intention.

Miller turn up the potential misunderstanding by asking. "Are we expected to believe that because thousands die In auto accident! each year, we should Ignore Ihe threat of a costly and dangerous nuclear technology?" Miller Is mlitaken when he label nuclear energy as "costly." It I actually the cheapest form of energy available. He Is also Inaccurate in that although nuclear energy has some potential threats, scientific technology has the ability to overcome these threats. I did not mean to tay we should rush headlong Into nuclear energy, only that we should examine the other options available and continue to develop nuclear energy and make It safe for America use. Afoer all, It's our future that's on the line.

PETER DI GAUDIO 2407 Virginia St. Hansen thanked To the editor: We would like to personally thank a man who has meant so much to our families, and I'm sure many people Jim Hansen of Hansen Pharmacy, 1911 Taylor who recently sold his business. Jim, for all the wonderful, warm, personal service you have given us for SO tnanv vpnre wo thanls Most of all, for the times we've called you In the middle of the night because our children were sick and needed medication. You never com- plained, but went right to the store and met us there or even delivered it to our house. We want you to know how much we appreciate you.

We love you and will keep you in our prayers. We wish you great luck in the future and you better believe we'll miss you a great deal. Tt ihe editor Ttirre it lu tie in ihit Utt that niokr one realic ho twill-ly Ihe yntit have pcd ut by, than ihe fearing don of trKtuif fthiin ho itrrminiily brra pari of our ltr Itxieset, The turrrni oVtru liufl of Ihe Wrttai Outdoor theater it one tuch event. I could u'unrly orlirve h. hrn 1 read In Ihe yeatt aga po'tloa of Ihe Journal Time' "Hniory" tolunin, thai ihi trnefaWe rnierptit wat opened thortly after April ll )ut dort not M-rm thai II af 30 year airo Ihnt my dad drove our family out lo the newly opened "outdoor" on ihe (wo-lan black lop of Highway 30, turned in at IIh dutty.

gravel road lo Ihe theater lukel off-he. trfid for our luknt and drove into (he wmiclrculnr romp fillrd viewing area To my ll year-old eye, the plart was a true wonderland, filled with erratically maneuvering enrs. people camperlng lo ihe refreshment ttnnd for last minute nack. pop. etc ihe Muatllr.g of buble.

yelling of kld ihit wu a prime example of the American free enterprlve tyttem op-erniing at full peed ahead! And then Ihe how would begin, after, of course, an appropriate number of impatient horn honk, tools und blasts To the best of my memory, the first film I uw at Westgate. was one of those technicolor Biblical extra-vangntas, featuring iome of those inevitable scenes of Christian being attacked by ravenous lions. If Ihe movie fare should prove lo be less than Interesting, we could always watch Ihe myriad number of moths flying in and out of the beam of light emanating from the projection booth, or we might even fx- driven lo Ihe point where we would stare at the blinking red light, atop the WRJN transmission tower. When my young eyes would lire of squinting from the narrow windshield of my dad's '34 Plymouth. I might even be tempted into sneaking a peek at the back seat gymnastics taking place in the surrounding cars; but.

for some reason, the windows of those cars were usually covered with steam lots of steam. After the shows were completed, there was the dusty, gravel-spewing race for the exits, then the quiet ride home. Unless, of course, you tried to depart without first disconnecting the speaker, in which case, you would not only have ripped the cord from that speaker, but would probably have demolished your car window. Ah, those were the days! Soon, all of the physical evidence will be gone, but there are many of us who will fondly remember the Westgate Outdoor Theater, for many years- to come. Goodbye, Westgate, it's been nice to know you.

FKED CONRAD 1 1113 Crab Tree Circle Aid appreciated To the editor: Too often we hear about the bad things that our youths are Involved In. Therefore, I feel it's quite appropriate for me to tell you, about Darlene. Darlene Young works at the Urban League of Racine with Housing and Community Services. In December of 1978, Darlene was sent to me by her agency, two months after my daugh- Rem Bud Mjnjprer Dean Conkl.n if. for Norman Monvon Opinion Iditor 'Nicholas -A 1 the load Is on Ihe bak the customer To give them ihe shaft, however, requires Ihe permission of Pennsylvania's Public Service Commission who may understand everyone of thoe customers is a potential angry voter If a terribly rich chump like t'nele Sam or a lot of hard working, poor chump can't be found.

lis belly up time at ole General Public L'tilmcs In theory that is the price the tree market system exacts for bad management, by which Is meant the decision lo build a nuclear plant in the first place or to build one which, for whatever reason, broke down at such terrible detriment to the company. ew of us are such pious devotees of 'he free enterprise god that we would allow a major, socially harmful bankruptcy only because of religious doctrine. Bui would it be harmful to let General Public Utilities pay the supreme economic price? Forget Ihe widows and (he orphans. Remember they used that argument to save the Penn Central Dtndholders' and only later did they explain that the orphans were 50-year-oldj bankers and the widows were the 50-year-old bankers' mothers. Much the same was said when New York City threatened default and again It turned out the orphans were grey-furred creatures whose ruby tongues panted down tuixt ivory fangs, the tips of which twinkled like The idow and orphan of high finance are out weeping nnJ bmrech-Ing again.

Whenever any great enter-prie withe lo get government help lo nave Itself freni bankruptcy, va-it, Imaginary ht nf "little pe-pie" Mock and bond holder are conjured up at the principal nufterer ft hat been in that vein Ihit (he executive of General Public 1'tilitirs, Ihe proprietor of the Three Mile -land nut tear mesvup. have b-rn beg-KinR for electric rule Increase. Barring an ouiriRht gifi from the State of Pennsylvania or the federal government. General Public Utilities has no place to go 10 pay for I) (he electricity that usrd to be generated at TMl but now must be purchased from outside; 2) the payment on the new and now useless pixnt. and 3) the payments on the plant that will have lo be built to substitute for ihe radioactive one.

There will be other costs, multimillinn dollar ones, to cover disassembling, burying or otherwise making JMI reasonubly safe for the next years, but let's not talk about Ihem or the prospects of shelling out more millions as a result of losing any number of damage suits. Where is all this dough going to come from? Well, one place is not going to come from is the slock market. In the last few weeks the cost of a share of General Public Utilities has fallen from better than $17.50 to $10.50 and Is still dropping. A call to Merrill Lynch to find out what GPU bonds were selling at elicited the Wall Street equivalent of a gasp and the remark that, "It would only be for the most aggressive investor. There's been talk of bankruptcy, you know." So the next likeliest place to drop Letters to ler't Job required her lo rride In Texas.

II crucial time for me I mited my daughter tad I had terrible time learning to rope with both phytical and per tonal problems Darlene (to her quiet y) too over my transportation to and from doctor' office, and I had three doc-tort She mw that I had transportation to the grocery ttore. pharmacy and numerous placet that would have required walking on my part. One might tay all of thM was In the line of duty for Mitt Young I would agree, but her Job does not pay fur total involvement or klndnett Mitt Young It a tiudent of theology and It wat quite eaty for me to toeak lo her on both a tplrltual andor personal level. 1 thank Cod for the part this young lady hat played In (his segment of my life. I like to feel that the hat gained at much from thee experience at I have.

Soon now Mint Young will be leaving to purtue her education and 1 would iruly like for her to know thai I shall never forget her and that I will always believe that her presence In my life was an act of God. MRS. LOUISE SANDERS 1038 Delnmere Ave. Gambling hit To the editor: If I were lo accept Rep. James Rooney't Invitation to lead ihe Assembly In prayer, I would pray this prayer: "Oh god, your Son drove the money changers out of the lemple In Jerusalem.

Send Him now to drive Ihem out of the churches of Wisconsin, so thai our churches may again be houses of prayer rather than gambling casinos. "Dispel the Bingo crowds, Lord. Burn the raffle tickets on your altar of morality. Instill some sense in the Legislature, lest Ihe Infection spread, and the whirr of the slot machine, the rattle of the dice cage, the shuffling of cards and the hum of the roulette wheel drown out the voices of prayer and-praise of your people. "Help those in high places in church and in government to assume a greater role in moral leadership, lest the blind continue to lead the blind.

We pray this In Jesus' name. Amen." Please kill Joint Resolution No. 24. REV. K.L.

NERENZ Emmanuel Lutheran Church 725 High St. Nuclear rebuttal the editor: I was pleased to learn that Fred Conrad (April 11 letter) is a graduate of Racine Lutheran High School, as I will be graduating from there in June of this year. Fred has a very valid point in his statement, "The problems of radiation are too great to be dismissed lightly." That Is why we have scientists working to solve any potential problem that might be caused by a radiation leak at a nuclear power plant. But, however, I must take exception to some remarks that Fred and Bob Miller made regarding my letter on nuclear energy (April 16). Fred suggests I read Mary McGrory's col-um which appeared on the same evening as the "prophet of doom'' letter that I refuted.

I did indeed read McGrory's piece of literary rubbish. McOrory Is a member of the lileral press, which made a nuclear mountain out of the Three Mile Island molehill. I have as much use for McGro-ry as I do for a toothache. Miller's letter Is the utmost in paranoia. Noah Webster defines paranoia as "unwarranted fears or delusions," Again i must point out that (1) even though automobiles take 50,000 lives per year, we do not shut down General Motors; (2) even though thousands have been electrocuted, we do not eliminate the use of electricity; oi (3) even though thousands have diec in natural gas explosions, we do not prohibit the use of natural gas.

What we do Instead Is apply tech island von Hoffman diamond point On the plus side, bankruptcy is one of the finest, most efficient forms of 1 safety regulation. We need put much less reliance on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission If people In the public power Industry know ihe cost of flubbing Ihe dub and letting these bad lutle isotopes out Into the civilian population's liver will be swift and painful punishment In the purse. General Public has already had to cul Its dividend and suspend Us employee stock plan. Some business people are saying bankruptcy can't be allowed because it will make life harder for other public utilities, scaring away Investors. But that's what we want Investors demanding guarantees as to Ihe safety of their Investments.

If their money is safe, our lives will be safe. l-ormal bankruptcy would mean that the company's other power generation facilities, Its transmission equipment, would be put on the block for auction. The proceeds of the sale would go to satisfy the damage suits, assuming General Public lost, tven if they won, the fight would go on for years and it would be even more years before the bondholders and creditors would see so, much as a dollar. The whole thing would become the Lot's wife of the public utility business. Indeed, who would want to buy the physical assets of such a bankrupt monopoly? It might be that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would.

Despite the furor over the municipal light company in Cleveland, government has long since. shown it Is able to run a power company. The Tennes-' see Valley the nation's irgest power company, is witness of that. In a time when 'the generation of electricity was never more important and the technology never more dan- gerous. the practice of granting government monopolies to private busi- ness may have become a risky ronism.

199, King Ftaturts Syndicate, Inc. Thoughts- wuy, its Esy lA I anVom tt2 AS ONCE Vjo I RE It THE foPrt VJ( I Qf Ar rS-VTI 1V1UV JlKJ vnni -nUL J. XUilASr 3915 Victory Ave. -SHERVL L. JEWELL History 40 YEARS AGO 939 Temperature: Maxi- May vjnum 69, Minimum 58.

William Korzinek, Clarence Ger-- sonde, Eugene Houdek, Robert Mor is THE isMOTT2l.fT 1' TRIVIALIZE AN ISSUE TODAY- The expression "land of milk and honey" indicting an abundance of good things comes from Moses. that ye may Increase mighty In the land that floweth with milk and honey." Deut. 6:3. With all his wisdom, the writer of Proverbs admitted he could not un- derstand four -things "which are too wonderful for me which I know not." "The way of an eagle In the alrj the way of serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid." Prov. 30:19.

gan and Dick Christiansen will represent Racine at the national junior police convention to be held In Washing- ton, D.C. 30 YEARS AGO May 8, 1949 Temperature: Maxl- mum 56, Minimum 45. Dania Society will mark its 82nd anniversary with a celebration at Dania Hall May 21. i 20 YEARS AGO May 8, 1959 Temperature; Maxl-' mum 60, Minimum 38, Mrs, Laura Merrill, a public health nurse, will attend the 10th annual! I convention of the Wisconsin Assocla-'1' i tipn for Public Health at Green Lake1' fefay 26-27. -S4irte.