The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 12

4B SATURDAY JULY 8 200Q 9 THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Fines levied in paper mill explosion WCNC-TV anchor Denton leaves for San Jose station is the 28th largest TV market WCNC contract was set to expire in August He said he and station management reached mutual that he would pursue news opportunities at other stations Denton said he was close to accepting a job in Salt Lake City before the KNTV offer came a wonderful opportunity to go from the 28th to the 5th WCNC News Director Keith Connors said wish him nothing but the best a good man He did a good job for Connors said the station has no plans yet to name a replacement Russ Riesinger now co-anchors the 11 pm news which is often considered a second most important news show after the 6 pm program Denton married with two children said his family will miss Charlotte met a lot of great people he said By BILL KEVENEY TVIRadio Writer News anchor Allen Denton is leaving WCNC-TV (Channel 36) to become an anchor in the San Francisco TV market the fifth largest in the country Starting Aug 14 Denton will begin anchoring the 6 pm and pm news on KNTV a San Jose station that is part of the San Francisco market KNTV is an independent station but will become the Bay NBC affiliate at the start of 2002 a great opportunity and a great challenge" Denton said a good Denton 46 a Nashville native has been at WCNC or NBC 6 for four years He co-anchors the 6 pm newscast with Sonja Gantt and until last year he co-anchored the 11 pm news Charlotte 2 workers killed in Bowater blast 2 companies cited By NICHOLE MONROE StaffWriter More than $31000 in fines have been levied against two companies in connection with a March explosion that killed two men and injured four people at Bowater Catawba SC plant The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Bowater Inc with three serious violations in connection with the March 14 explosion that killed Frankie Pittman and Danny Sherer at the paper mill A fine of $18900 was levied said OSHA spokesman Jim Knight The agency also cited the employer Construction Corp with two serious violations in the accident The company was fined $12600 Knight said He said a serious violation is one that the employer does not have knowledge of but has the potential to cause serious injury or death Pittman of Chester SC and Sherer of Rock Hill died March 14 while they were working on top of a 180000-gallon tank at the Bowater paper mill in Catawba Heat from a welding torch ignited turpentine vapors in the pipes near the tank sparking a fire and the explosion The tank contained condensation from steam captured as wood chips were cooked Two men and two women were injured in the blast The citations released to the media Friday said Bowater and failed to perform certain safety procedures before allowing the welding work to begin Those procedures included properly labeling the tank and cleaning the tank and pipe to ensure that no flammable chemicals were present Bowater officials have requested an informal conference with OSHA to discuss the findings said Barre Mitchell the director of technology- we may disagree with some or all of the conclusions we maintain a positive working relationship with OSHA KPC Research File photo An exploded tank Is seen at York Bowater plant on March 14 Bowater Inc and Construction Corp have been cited in the deaths of two workers from the blast Male and Female Ages 30-45 KPC Research a Charlotte market research firm is looking for individuals who are between the ages of 30-45 years to participate in a market research study We will not be selling anything during this study nor will you be contacted later for selling purposes If you qualify we will pay you cash for vour participation Groups are scheduled for Wednesday July l2th and Thursday July 13th Call 704-358-5746 and leave your name age brand or brands of cigarettes daytime and evening phone numbers and please refer to ad 85 Sherer Pittman The citations were issued June 30 Bowater officials learned the results of the investigation Wednesday Mitchell said OSHA issued the following citations to Bowater: The procedures for locking and labeling containers with hazardous materials did not include measures to control methanol and turpentine which were contained in the tank and pipes in question Welding was performed on a piping system that contained among other substances turpentine and methanol The piping system was not cleaned vented or tested on March 14 Bowater did not inform and its employees of any precautionary measures to take to protect employees on a tank and piping system that contained methanol and turpentine No marking or labeling was on the tank to identify the hazardous materials contained in the tank OSHA issued the following citations to Welding was performed on a piping system that contained among other substances turpentine and methanol The piping system was not cleaned vented or tested on March 14 knew or should have known that employees performing welding operations on the tank were exposed to a fire andor explosion hazard Some members of the Pittman and Sherer families said Friday they surprised by findings make you feel any better" said Dan mother Helen knew someone had let the ball down and it have Frank Lane Wood oldest son said he was most interested in hearing how the accident could have been avoided would like to see a statement made that two fives were lost in vain and that issues will be addressed to help prevent it from happening Wood said KPC Research and appreciate their Mitchell said Officials with could not be reached Friday Bowater Inc which owns the mill on the York and Lancaster county line is the largest producer of newsprint The Catawba mill is one of York largest employers The companies faced a maximum of $7000 for each citation or a total of $35000 Knight said He said the fines were reduced for both companies because of their in cooperating with the investigation and good safety history for the past three years Male or Female: Ages 25-70 Do you live in North Mecklenburg or South Iredell? Is your Zip Code 28115 28117 28031 28036 28078? KPC Research a Charlotte market research firm is looking for individuals who are between the ages of 25-70 years to participate in a market research study We will not be selling anything during this study nor will you be contacted later for selling purposes If you qualify we will pay you cash for your participation Groups are scheduled for Tuesday July 1 1th Call 704-358-5746 and leave your name age code daytime and evening phone numbers and please refer to ad 75 Army vets visit birthplace CARPET CLEARANCE SALE-i Super Thick Plushes Berbers $399sq yd While Suppnes Loaf No Carpet over $499yd 624 Kennedy St 704-338-1 995 CAMP from IB 4 FlfUr II in one of Observer's most popular I I Iji'J of the year i i I it like living In the Charlotte region? what The Charlotte full-color special section of more than 80 pages is all about On Sunday Sept 24 will look at where we jive fj work and play File photo Camp Greene off Wilkinson Boulevard In Charlotte In 1919 Topics include life in the suburbs uptown and all around how to get ahead in Charlotte business circles coping with the i climate families schools religion real estate shopping trafficToads nightlifefentertainment more than 25 topics i -V T-v iv i 4 4 be very sick and needs to go to the said Bob Babcock the president who was among the 4th first troops to go to Vietnam in 1966 can stand here and imagine those first soldiers who trained here in World War I were like all of us who followed: They were proud they complained but they id their job the nature of the soldier None of us liked doing it but would take nothing in exchange for the Politicians delivered speeches and the association laid a wreath at the monument erected to the 4th Infantry at Wilkinson Boulevard and Monument Street US Rep Mel Watt D-NC of Charlotte read a letter from President Clinton gave the association an American flag that flew over the House of Representatives in the 4th honor and told how he was bom four miles from the camp I was growing up we had little understanding about the historical importance that Camp Greene Watt said was said about it That was our loss Now it gives me great pride to have this camp in my congressional In many ways the boomtown that is now Charlotte owes much to Camp Greene though it operated only until June 1919 The region was struggling in a depression when the United States declared war on Germany in 1917 The war in Europe had toppled cotton prices and stalled the local mills and economy City leaders knew a military training camp could jump-start the economy so they aggressively lobbied federal officials for one in Charlotte Two other NC cities Fayetteville and Wilmington wanted a camp too And all three competed with Syracuse NY and Athens Ga Gen Leonard Wood charged with selecting sites arrived in Charlotte on July 5 1917 to inspect three suggested sites That evening when he spoke at First Presbyterian Church uptown more than 8000 of the 50000 residents turned out Charlotte and Fayetteville were selected And soon farmers were clearing 2300 acres of woods and cotton fields and thousands came from great distances to build barracks and horse stables and install water pipes Construction began in July and in 90 days a city of tents and barracks rose between Tuckaseegee Road and West Boulevard Each of the 190 regiments required 35 acres One hundred acres went for horse remount stables (thus the name for Remount tfi'iMtutinTrtill Wilftitanirirrilrf'- The Sunday Charlotte Observer will include delivering powerful audiences for yoOrad 0 476600 adult Sunday readers jrfMfcklenburg County and parts of Cabarrus Gaston Iredofllliicoin and York SC counties Many of the 35000 adults who moved to the Charlotte area in the past 12 months Many of the 109355 adults in the Charlotte area who changed residences in the last 12 months i 1 1 1 i People will also access "livinghere online at wwwcharlottecom Your ad will attract Internet users each day until September 2001 livinghere ii a mri 4 OiiWX mi mvml South completely rejoined the country at that said David Ritch who at 14 began a drive to save and restore the then-condemned Dowd House and preserve it the Civil War World War I was the event that brought the country back The story of Camp Greene lost on aging soldiers such as Wayne Brown and Bob Williamson both members of the 4th Infantry who fought in Europe in World Warn Brown was wounded three times arriving at Normandy in France four days after D-Day Williamson was wounded four times hitting the beach at Normandy on D-Day an 18-year-old from Columbus Ohio grasp the danger because we were so said Williamson 74 now of Lakeland Fla grasp it until we hit the beach and saw all the dead or dying But you do anything about it You had to stay with it and keep Now 56 years later he stood staring at the Dowd House The house and three barracks converted into housing a monument to the camp erected by the local DAR chapter in 1925 and Arty Avenue (where artillery was kept) Greenland Avenue and Camp Greene Street are the last vestiges means a lot to us being Williamson said means a lot that some people saw the importance of preserving something of the old camp Ever since I was in the 4th Infantry heard about Camp Greene We think of it as sort of a homecoming" Reach David Perlmutt at (704) 358-5061 or Road) By December 60000 soldiers at any given time poured into Charlotte more than doubling its population It was named for the Revolutionary War hero Gen Nathanael Greene was limping along at the said Jack Claiborne public relations director at UNC Charlotte who has written about history city needed a military camp to create jobs It created a huge boom in Charlotte It gave people jobs It put spending money in pockets Money turned over fast Soldiers ate in restaurants food had to go to wholesalers wholesalers had to go to truckers and truckers to suppliers Camp Greene had a big impact on the Charlotte we know Winters were brutal Epidemics of pneumonia and spinal meningitis sent hundreds of soldiers to the hospital The locals were concerned that Catholic troops from the Northeast were being sent to train in a Protestant region But weekends the locals invited the troops into their homes and fed them Sunday dinners and introduced them to their daughters of the things Charlotteans noticed most about the soldiers is how most were high school graduates and were so poised and well-mannered and Claiborne said that point Charlotte have a true high school Almost immediately after the war the city passed a bond issue to build a high school So Camp Greene had other influent es The Northerners too were con cemed about training in the South 4a sir jr Share in this exciting and popular publication For information call Joan Baker at (704) 358-5345 The advertising deadline is Friday "July 28 JWUQEiiJ Sfp eknli i MU ec i a.