Casper Star-Tribune from Casper, Wyoming • 7

Star-Tribune, Casper, Wyo A7 Neighbors try to deal with seepage from Rocky Mountain Arsenal Thursday, April 24, 1 986 I COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) For generations a devil's brew of waste nerve agents and chemicals has been percolating at Rocky. Mountain Arsenal, where rolling plains in the shadow of downtown Denver's skyscrapers belie the trouble underground. The arsenal's grasslands, dotted with old farm buildings, once were an isolated production site for government nerve gas and commercial pesticide and insecticide. But as the Denver metropolitan area grew to the northeast, houses sprouted just yards from the arsenal's barbed boundary fence.

People began feeling uneasy about their neighbor, which at 17,000 acres is about one-fourth as big as the city. A few years ago, a chemical that can cause sterility, dibromochloropropane, was found migrating in groundwater to nearby water wells, but a filtration system was installed to catch it. It was a warning. In recent months, 30,000 users of the South Adams County Water and Sanitation District have learn- ed there are traces of trichloroethylene, or TCE, in their drinking water. They now are boiling their water or buying it bottled, and their children drink bottled water at school.

The U.S. Army, which runs the arsenal, says it knows roughly where some of the TCE is coming from. But spokesman Tom Donnelly says there is evidence of other contamination, to which none of the arsenal's 140 known hazardous waste dumps could be contributing. That would mean there are other, unknown, sources of trichloroethylene, which causes liver and nervous system damage in laboratory animals and is considered a carcinogen, at or near the Arsenal. The current readings of TCE have reached as high as 200 parts per billion in a test well on the arsenal grounds, and as high as 98 ppb in a private well 200 yards from the arsenal.

South Adams County district wells tested in the 40-50 ppb range and were shut down. The water district plans to tap temporarily into Denver's water supply. But the private well that had the highest TCE readings is not in line with the underground water flow from the arsenal wells with the highest readings. And the Army admits it does not know what other chemicals are at the arsenal. For many of the chemicals suspected of being present, there are no long-term studies for effects.

It is known that massive doses to test animals over short periods cause problems, but that allows scientists only to guess about effects on humans. TCE for years was commonly used in degrcasing compounds. There is no EPA-approvcd maximum standard level for TCE content in water yet, although one in the range of 5 ppb has been proposed. The seriousness of the TCE concentrations for residents near the arsenal remains a subject of debate. "The short-term risk is so close to zero that I myself would continue to drink the water," said Dr.

Thomas Vernon, of the state Department of Health. Marc Alston, of the public water supply section of Denver's office of the Environmental Protection Agency, added that "for the short term, (this) presents a very, very low risk as best we know." But for years people also lived with asbestos, unaware of the dangers of asbestosis, and many people who live near the arsenal are unwilling to talk about "allowable risks." "We are operating on approximations and estimates," said Alston. "What we do not know overwhelms what we do know." Denver's skyline and the foothills of the Rockies can be seen distance as workers clean up a former dump site at the Mountain Arsenal. vcv Cleaning up TO SAVINGS UP TO $900 ON BEDROOMS, DINING ROOMS in the Rocky TO SAVINGS UP TO $800 ON BEDDING, SOFA SLEEPERS TO SAVINGS UP TO $350 ON TABLES, ACCENTS, WALL UNITS TO SAVINGS UP TO '600 ON SOFAS, CHAIRS, RECLINERS MICHAil'S ASKED ITS FAMOUS FURNITURE MANUFACTURERS FOR EXTRA DISCOUNTS AND THiY SAID i li ll save because we save. Sale starts THURSDAY, APRIL 24th Only room to show a few example values.

There's much more In store for you. Governor must sell state, Simpson says LARAMIE Wyoming's next governor should be the state's "chief ambassador and number one salesman," Pete Simpson, a Republican aspirant to the post, said this week. "When I'm talking about selling Wyoming, I'm talking about making it a marketable prosperous place, without sacrificing the very essence of what our lifestyle is," he said. "That's what makes it worth living here," Simpson said. "And, to lose any of that is to lose what is essentially, basically Wyoming." After his first campaign swing through the state, Simpson said his support is "literally snowballing." "In this campaign, I'm going to talk to Wyoming citizens everywhere, listen to their ideas, and distill them," he said.

"Out of that comes action, and that is what this campaign is all about." Sullivan supports oil import tax CASPER Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike has called for the Reagan administration to "keep an open mind" to using an oil import tax to help stem the declining price of oil. "To a major degree, the survival of the economy of energy-produc-ing states and Indian tribes is dependent on a stable energy price," he said. "To say, as Presi-" dent Reagan did. the drop in oil and gas prices is a result of decontrol and to imply that the free market is establishing the price is to ignore the fact that the price of oil and gas is being manipulated by Saudi Arabia." Although there are "legitimate arguments" against an import tax, Sullivan said, a tax may be the on-; ly protection Wyoming and other 1 states have against a "permanent, and hence catastrophic, blow to the oil and gas industry." The result could be an increased reliance on imported oil and I decreased national security, he said. Wyoming's coal industry also is threatened, because low oil and gas prices undermine the economic advantage of burning coal, he said.

"President Reagan cannot allow the oil and gas industry to be on the false pretense of a free market at work," Sullivan said. Donley pushes for tax break for coal CASPER Wyoming's coal industry should get a one-third tax break on all new contracts, Re- i i i i puDllcan gUDcrnaiuimi tauuiuaic Russ Donley said this week. Saying producers are being "nickeled and dimed to death" by taxes and regulations, Donley proposed a 5.5 percent severance tax credit for all new production. Such a credit would stimulate new production and create more jobs, he said. The tax credit would reduce total property and severance taxes on the coal industry from 15.5 percent to 10 percent, Donley said.

Since dropping oil and gas prices are reducing the market for coal and threatening mines in Wyoming, Donley said the tax break could keep some mines open. "We need them to stay operating to keep Wyoming jobs," he said. "Additional mine shutdowns would further deepen our depression in Wyoming." Donley also wants to streamline mining regulations and find cheaper ways of getting the coal to markets. With lower taxes and fewer regulations, Wyoming could double or triple its annual coal production in the next 10 years, he said. Selected Sleepers in your choice of Queen, Full, Twin sizes.

Save at only IT 1 KJIT, $7995 Open stock Broyhill bedroom pieces including chests, dressers, student desks, etc. Example 4 drawer chest only Dinnettes for too many to list from Douglas Bozof Stoneville Beechbrook. Example Table 4 chairs w1 leaf only UNIVERSAL Vaughan-Bassett 5 pc. Oak Bedroom rich, luxurious chic with door chest. Reg.

SI 495 Heavy Duty Bunk Beds with many styles to choose from. Prices starting at Dixieland Camel Back Sofa Loveseat furbished In today's color tones. Both only HudioMotes by Affordable Furniture. Audio VMM Entertainment CtntM ONLY Oak jSk jk. Casual Contemporary Dining Iiffll BroyhllT Complete 8 pc.

dining settings from $899 Table, 6 chairs china hutch countryN CHARM 5 piece heavywood set 5, Includes sofa, loveseat, party ottoman 2 end tables 2 pc. set Newport Sofa and Loveseat Choice of colors in stock Per pic Open stock dining room? Yes, again at MICHAEL'S prices starting $11 A ailowat I IV 5301 CY Avenue CASPER 235-3590 MICH 4706 S. Douglas Hwy GILLETTE 682-3947 iOi'it. Furniture, Bedding Carpet Financing Available W.A.C..