Republican and Herald from Pottsville, Pennsylvania • 1

1 -J MASTERS CHAMPION Four months after tumor removal, Trevor Immelman wins green jacket, Page 13 HOTELS AND HEALTH Tobacco-Free Monopoly Tournament raises funds for Relay for Life, Page 3 MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2008 fl 4r 7 POTTSVILLE, PA SINCE 1884 i 0)g(0 TTvi 11 IS Scientists use biosolids as defense against lead, but don't address other risks The chairman of a 2002 National Academy of Sciences panel says epidemiological studies have never been done to show whether spreading sludge on land Is safe. But that Is not what the subjects of the Baltimore and East St. Louis sludge research were told. Source: The Associated Press There is no evidence there was ever any medical follow-up. Comparable research was conducted by the Agriculture Department and Environmental Protection Agency in a similarly poor, black neighborhood in East St.

Louis, Dl. The sludge, researchers said, put the children at less risk of brain or nerve damage from lead, a highly toxic element once widely used in gasoline and paint Other studies have shown brain damage among children, often in poor neighborhoods, who ate lead-based paint that had flaked off their homes. Locally, East Brunswick Township supervisors passed a sludge ordinance in 2006 that challenges the rights of corporations to spread sewage sludge, called "biosolids" in the sewage treatment industry, Please see SLUDGE, Page 6 part of a study published in 2005 and funded by the Housing and Urban Development Department. The Associated Press reviewed grant documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and interviewed researchers. No one involved with the $446,231 grant for the two-year study would identify the participants, citing privacy concerns.

BY JOHN HEILPRIN AND KEVIN S. VINEYS ASSOCIATED PRESS BALTIMORE Scientists using federal grants spread fertilizer made from human and industrial wastes on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test "whether it might protect children from lead poisoning in the soil. Families were assured the sludge was safe and were never told about any harmful ingredients. Nine low-income families in Baltimore row houses agreed to let researchers till the sew age sludge into their yards and plant new grass. In were given food coupons as well as the free lawns as IMITATING LIFE Deadly Mfe9 dirty wmck Meth site raids put officials on dangerous cleanup duty 1,1 TT1 BY PETER E.

BORTNER STAFF WRITER pbortnerrepublicanherald.com Methamphetamine kills not only the drug itself, but also the toxic laboratories in which, it is produced in Schuylkill Counrjr and across the nation. "Some of the ingredients can be highly explosive," District Attorney James P. Goodman said. As a result, when police take down a meth lab such as on Dec. 10, 3007, at 613 W.

Maha-noy City, and in 2004 at 224 N. Second Pottsville they must block off an entire neighborhood, use extreme care and call in the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to destroy everything used to prepare the toxic witches' brew of a drug. "They're using hazardous chemicals. You always have the danger of explosions," Pottsville police Chief Joseph H. Murton said.

Even undercover agents from the Schuylkill County Drug Task Force who participate in the raids shy away from trying to handle either the drugs or the materials used to make them. "Nothing about meth labs is safe," one of the agents said. DEA agents take the materials seized in the labs, process them so they can be used in prosecuting the lab operators and then take them to a special disposal location in the Pittsburgh area for destruction, Goodman said. "If they fmd a lab, then any product in any of it" must be destroyed, he said. 'Spacemen' raid labs Raiding a meth lab involves all sorts of special work, according to law enforcement ANDY MATSK0STAFF PHOTO Jennifer Lauer, 18, right, of Blue Mountain High School, explains the Idea behind her acrylic painting titled "Natasha" on Sunday at the high school student art show held at the Schuylkill County Council for the Arts, Pottsvllle.

At left Is her sister, Natasha, 12, who Is the subject of the painting behind them. The piece took second place In the acrylic category. To read more about the art show, see Page 3. FRANK ANDRUSCAVAGESTAFF PHOTO Police wear protective gear Dec. 10, 2007, to remove Items from a suspected meth lab at 613 W.

Mahanoy City. "They suit up. They're specially trained," state police public information coordinator Cpl. Linette Quinn said of the clandestine laboratory response team based in Har-risburg. "They have special equipment.

They actually look like spacemen," Goodman said. Police use that equipment and clothing because of what's in the labs and what happens to it "You could die because of the gases. The chemicals are very volatile. Those gases can instantly kill you," Quinn said. One of those toxic materials is anhydrous ammonia, said Murton, whose police force has helped take out four meth labs in the city.

Two types of labs are Nazi Birch and Red Phosphorous, according to both Murton and the undercover agents. According to DEA, each produces flammable solvents; the Nazi Birch method also produces cryogenic liquids and water reactive metals, while the Red Phosphorous method also produces iodine and phosphine gas. Please see METH, Page 6 14 Huge crowd to greet pope at White House President planning pomp-filled ceremony for historic visit 1 1 mmtmmm President Bush Will meet with the pope on Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI Will visit the White House on Wednesday for modern A crowd of up to 12,000 is due at the White House on Wednesday morning for the pope's official, pomp-filled arrival ceremony. It will feature the U.S. and' Holy See anthems, a 21-gun salute, and the U.S.

Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps. Both men will make remarks before their Oval Office meeting and a send-off for his popemobile down Pennsylvania Avenue. Please see POPE, Page 7 BY JENNIFER LOVEN ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON The leader of the world's Roman Catholics has been to the White House only once in history. That changes this week, and President Bush is pulling out all the stops: driving out to a suburban military base to meet Pope Benedict XVI's plane, bringing a giant audience to the South Lawn and hosting a fancy East Room dinner. of picking him up at the air- These are all firsts.

port. In fact, no president has Bush has never before giv- done so at Andrews Air Force en a visiting leader the honor Base, the typical landing spot eet the debate challengers Name: David Fleming Home: Davidson, N.C. Occupation: Senior writer for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com columnist and author of "Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen Maroons debate Friday, April 18 Name: Joe Horrigan Home: Canton, Ohio Occupation: Vice president of communications and exhibits for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton, Ohio Author, Hall of Fame VP nail down main Maroons question 1925 Championship." BY STEPHEN J. PYTAK STAFF WRITER spytakrepublicanherald.com David Fleming is determined to make a Maroons supporter out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's vice president of communications and exhibits, who doesn't believe the Pottsville Maroons deserve the 1925 championship. "I want to convince Joe Horrigan to join our cause," said Fleming, author of a book about the legendary team, who will debate the Maroons' "stolen championship" with Horrigan in Pottsville on Friday.

Meanwhile, Horrigan said facts are facts and the Maroons never completed the 1925 season. ship," and Horrigan, a pro football historian, will go head to head at The Great Maroons Debate, 8 p.m. Friday at the Sovereign Majestic Theater, 209 N. Centre St Lasting Legacy printed 224 tickets for the event and gave them away for free by the end of March, said Eric Lipton, a member of the Lasting Legacy board of directors, which organized the event with Pottsville Mayor JohnD.W.Reiley. 'Misinterpreted' After being hired by the Hall of Fame in 1977, Horrigan became aware of the Pottsville Maroons "almost immediately," he said.

Please set MAROONS, Page 7 PREPARATIONS Learn more about the debate and 7 efforts to tout the Maroons. Page 7 "They didn't have the title to begin with," Horrigan said. "There was no issue in 1925 of taking the title away. The issue was whether they violated league rules, which they admittedly did and were punished for it. There was no title to take away.

If they had stayed with the league and had finished the season, it was likely they would have ended up on top." Fleming, author of ESPN Books' "Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Champion View on Maroons controversy: Believes the Maroons violated league rules by playing a non-NFL team and that the Maroons do not deserve the championship because the team did not complete the 1925 season. View on Maroons controversy: Believes the Pottsville Maroons were the 1 925 football champions and should receive that recognition from the National Football League. BRIAN KNEPPSTAFF GRAPHIC GOOD MORNING 8 Comics 21 Local 3 People 2 Calendar .......19 DearAbby .19 Lottery 2 Police 12 Emily Jonas, Tamnqua our valued subscriber 4 Celebrity Cipher 23 Editorial 10 NationWorld 4 Sports 13-17 i 0 9 4 3 'I 1 7 9 a ii Low: 30 High: 49 Jo icrjbsii: 800-622-1737J Classified Entertainment 20 9,12 State 4 Details, Page 2.