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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1995)
{Toxic soil gets new solution I I By Chad Lorenz Staff Reporter University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers may have found a safe, economical way to clean up toxic soil at a decommissioned bomb fac tory near Mead, an agronomy pro fessor said. - The Environmental Protection Agency has decided to incinerate the highly contaminated soil at the Nebraska Ordnance Plant, which is 130 miles north of Lincoln. But a UNL research team that I studied the soil near the decommis sioned plant may have found an alternative to the incineration plan, agronomy professor Pat Shea said. This alternative includes chemi cal and biological treatments to the soil. The treatments may replace incineration plans at other con taminated sites across the country, Shea said. | Contaminants such as TNT and cyclonite explosives washed into drainage ditches near the plant during World War II and the Ko rean War, when the plant produced more than 3 million bombs. The contaminated soil now rests QP university property at the Agri cultural Research and Development Center. The U.S. Army Corps of Engi neers and the EPA are responsible for cleaning up the soil. Incinerating the soil for cleanup . .the concern is that if something were to go wrong, hazardous emissions could be released. ” PAT SHEA agronomy professor would be expensive and a potential environmental hazard, Shea said. The incineration of 8,400 cubic yards of highly contaminated soil at Mead would cost the govern ment $14 million, Shea said. Incinerating the soil wouldn’t release any pollution if done prop erly, he said. “I think the concern is that if something were to .go wrong, haz ardous emissions could be re leased,” Shea said. The contaminants could be bro ken down into safer, more biode gradable components by using chemical treatments, Shea said. Shea said the treatment involved mixing iron and hydrogen perox ide with the toxic soil and water. The chemical reaction converts the contaminants into water, car bon dioxide and harmless organic acid, Shea said. Helen Tilson, an EPA spokes woman, said cleaning up the con taminated site was an immediate concern because the explosives may also contaminate Mead’s ground "water. Shea said the kind of toxins in the soil had been known to cause gastro-intestinal and liver disor ders. “Some hazards have been asso ciated with these and similar com pounds,” he said. Shea and his colleague Steve Comfort, a soil chemist at the Insti tute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, also have developed a biological treatment in which mi croorganisms transform the toxins into different compounds. Tall fescue grass also would help break down the contaminants, Shea said. The root system in the grass would providea biologically active area that could successfully clean up the soil, Shea said. The roots also could slow run-off of toxic ground water. 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The newspaper rejected the adver tisements because they discriminated against individuals who were not gay or lesbian and violated the Daily Nebraskan’s policy. The court ruled in favor of the Daily Nebraskan because the newspaper’s student staff made the decision and not the university. Mike Hiestand, an attorney at the Student Press Law Center in Vir ginia, said the case enforced the prin ciple that student newspapers have the same rights as other commercial newspapers. The Daily Nebraskan, which was founded in 1901, is the independent student newspaper of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It is governed by a board of students, faculty and community members. The newspaper is financially inde pendent of the university. The Daily Nebraskan receives a minor portion of its operating budget through student fees. Advertising revenues cover the majority of the newspaper’s operating costs. Senior Reporter Jeff Zeieny contributed to this report Wesley Patrick John SNIPES SWAYZE LEGUIZAMO '